Akhilesh Yadav (pronunciation (help·info); born 1 July 1973) is an Indian politician serving as the Member of Parliament from Azamgarh in the 17th Lok Sabha. He is the president of the Samajwadi Party and has served as the 20th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh from 2012 to 2017. Having assumed office on 15 March 2012 at the age of 38, he is the youngest person to have held the office. His first significant success in politics was being elected as the Member of the Lok Sabha for the Kannauj constituency. He is the son of veteran politician Mulayam Singh Yadav, the founder-patron of Samajwadi Party who has served as the Minister of Defence in Government of India and three terms as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
Yadav was born on 1 July 1973 in Saifai, Etawah District, Uttar Pradesh. He was born to Malti Devi and Mulayam Singh Yadav, later Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Malti Devi suffered complications while giving birth to Akhilesh which put her in a vegetative state. She died in 2003. With Mulayam Singh Yadav busy making a career in politics, Akhilesh was brought up mostly by his paternal grandparents. He completed his early education in a local school in Saifai and then one in Etawah town He was schooled at the Military School in Dholpur, Rajasthan, then obtained his Bachelor's and master's degrees in Civil Environmental Engineering at JSS Science and Technology University. He also has a master's degree in environmental engineering from the University of Sydney, Australia.