Akhilesh Yadav defends inclusion of Raja Bhaiya in cabinet

NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has defended the inclusion of Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya in his Cabinet.

Addressing his first press conference as the chief minister of the state, Akhilesh said the cases against Raja Bhaiya were politically motivated.

If you check the dates of cases lodged against him, you will know who is behind him, Akhilesh said.

The inclusion of Raja Bhaiyya in the Cabinet came as a surprise, given the young chief minister's efforts to break away from the past tag of goonda raj' duringt SP's last rule in the state.

During the campaign Akhilesh had said " Samajwadi Party will be strict on law and order. We will not tolerate people with criminal background," he had said.

Raja Bhaiya has been elected from Kunda consituency and has several cases against him.

Akhilesh reached out to the youth and said that promises pertaining to the youth will be gtaken up on priority in the first cabinet meet scheduled for later in the day.