The “son-rise” in Uttar Pradesh alluding to Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav now credited with the party's resurgence in the Assembly elections in that State has brought smiles on the faces of some of the senior faculty members of Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering (SJCE) in distant Mysore.
For, Akhilesh Yadav studied BE in Environmental Engineering and passed out in 1994 and the SJCE staff now plan to invite him as a chief guest for the golden jubilee celebrations of the engineering college which will kick off in June this year.
SJCE principal G. Sangameshwar told The Hindu that he was a faculty member of the college when the junior Yadav was a student but had not taught him. However, his colleagues from the Department of Civil Engineering knew him and had described him as “very humble” and “modest not given to throwing airs about his political connections”.
“Let alone the heat and dust of the UP political turf, Akhilesh Yadav neither contested the students union elections nor headed any of the committees but preferred to maintain a low profile,” recalled Prof. Sangameshwar.
“We plan to extend an invitation to Mr. Akhilesh Yadav to be the chief guest for the golden jubilee celebrations of the institute and are indeed proud of our alumni,” he added.
Shakeeb-ur-Rehman, Head, Department of Civil Engineering and Vice-Principal of SJCE, who was one of Mr. Akhilesh Yadav's teachers, pointed out that “Akhilesh was inconspicuous, extremely silent and not known to participate in any of the extra-curricular activities nor was he involved in campus raucous as most students did”.
“Hence, it came as a surprise to us when he plunged into UP politics within years of graduating from the college and we have kept track of his growth over the years,” said Prof. Rehman. If he is now being seen as affable, easily approachable, and has endeared himself to the voters in Uttar Pradesh, it is entirely due to his non-domineering nature which was apparent even during his student days, according to Prof. Rehman.
“We were in constant touch for a long time but it has been three years since we have spoken, though we exchange messages and greetings even now,” he added.
For a person known to be diminutive and not known to throw his weight around on campus, the rise of Mr. Akhilesh Yadav and his projection as a “Chief Minister-in-the-making” of the country's most populous State, or his “charm-quotient” being pitted against Rahul Gandhi's, is a transformation that has baffled his teachers.
“Not once did he allude to himself as the son of Mulayam Singh Yadav and only a few people knew about it. Once when Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav came to visit Mr. Akhilesh Yadav in Mysore, the former ensured that it was a Sunday so as not to disturb the routine activity,” recalled Prof. Sangameshwar.
