REUTERS – Akhilesh Yadav, son of Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Mulayam Singh, was on Saturday named the next chief minister of Uttar Pradesh by his party’s lawmakers.

Akhilesh, 38, was nominated to the top post by SP legislators at a meeting in Lucknow. He will be the youngest chief minister of the country’s most populous state.

“The swearing-in ceremony will be held on March 15,” Akhilesh Yadav told reporters in Lucknow.

The young leader said tackling the law and order situation and fulfilling the Samajwadi Party’s promises in its election manifesto will be his top priorities.

The state has seen several clashes between supporters of the SP and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) after election results were declared on March 6. The Samajwadi Party secured a majority of 224 seats in the 403-member state assembly ousting Mayawati’s BSP government.

Akhilesh, a postgraduate from Sydney, is seen as the modern face of the Samajwadi Party, which used to abhor the use of computers and the English language.

Akhilesh, an MP from Kannauj, will have to get elected to the state assembly within six months of his taking over as the state chief minister.

Uttar Pradesh, with a population of around 200 million, is a politically critical state as its sends 80 MPs to the 545-seat Lok Sabha.