LUCKNOW: To save the image of the government headed by his son Akhilesh, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav called a meeting of his ministers on Tuesday and told them that hooliganism would not be tolerated at any cost.
The SP chief was forced to issue the warning by the events on Sunday when supporters of Textile Minister Mehboob Ali brandished guns during a victory procession on the 35-km stretch from Moradabad railway station to Amroha, from where he was elected.
Yadav Sr warned the erring partymen to either mend their ways or face action.
“Similar reports of wild celebrations were received from different parts of the state and the ministers and the MLAs should tell their supporters to behave properly, strictly stay away from brandishing weapons and indulging in rampant firing in public places,” said the SP supremo.
The ministers were also told by Akhilesh that they should be people friendly and try to address grievances of the public.
“Any dent in the image of the government could cause the party dearly as the party was planning to win all 80 Lok Sabha constituencies in the 2014 elections,” said Akhilesh.
Akhilesh dismissed five supporters of minister Mehboob Ali on Tuesday for the Hathras incident. Besides, 12 other members of the party have been sacked in the last 10 days for hooliganism during the celebrations after the stupendous success of the party in the elections.
Mulayam is moving very cautiously to see his son Akhilesh, who is the youngest CM of the state, does not commit any mistake and remains unscathed from the charges of pampering criminality.
On Tuesday, sources revealed to the Express that senior official Javed Usmani was likely to be the new Chief Secretary of the state, replacing Anup Mishra.
Usmani has worked with Mulayam as his Principal Secretary in his previous regime.