Left wing triumphs in Uttar Pradesh election The big winner in the Uttar Pradesh state election was the regional leftwing Samajwadi party, led by former wrestler Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son Akhilesh, which swept to victory with 224 seats: enough to oust the incumbent chief minister Kumari Mayawati, the leader of the lower-caste focused party. The Samajwadi party's victory was expected but few thought it would have won enough support to secure an outright majority in the UP legislative assembly and form a government on its own. Two years ago in the general elections it lost nearly half of its seats in the national parliament and was considered to be politically dead. The star campaigner credited with turning around the party's ailing fortunes in the state was Akhilesh who, like Rahul Gandhi, worked relentlessly to mobilise support on the ground and canvassed a political message that would appeal beyond communal and religious lines, political commentators said. "The most impressive campaign was conducted by Akhilesh," said Pushpesh K. Pant, professor and political analyst. Restrained yet forceful, relying on reason rather than emotion, not abusive or abrasive. It stood out in sharp contrast with Rahul Gandhi's histrionics reminiscent of B grade Hindi films. Akhilesh focused on getting rid of the party's "gunda raj" - criminal rule - tag, which mired the SP's rule between 2002 and 2007, and focused on delivering a more development-focused and progressive vision for the future of the state. "In every single speech Akhilesh mentioned [giving free] computers to school children, this was a clear message that appealed to the masses," said Pratap Bhanu Mehta of the Centre for Policy Research, a New Delhi-based think-tank. Ishita Verma, who grew up in UP and is now an investment banker in Mumbai, said that the SP had radically changed under its new younger leader. Akhilesh Yadav presents an acceptable face which the youth could relate to and trust.