LUCKNOW: In an apparent bid to strengthen Samajwadi Party's Muslim outreach chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday met senior clerics of the community. The CM has met a host of senior Muslim leaders and religious heads in the last few days.Imam of Eidgah Maulana Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahli, who called up on the CM on Tuesday, said though he met the CM to wish him on Diwali, Akhilesh informed him about government initiatives for the benefit of Muslim community. "He pointed out how the government had paved way for appointment of over 5,000 Urdu Moallims (teachers) in various educational institutes and included the Arabi madrasas on the grants list ," said Maulana Khalid, adding there was a need for the leaders to inform the community about steps taken by the goverment for the uplift of Muslims in the state.On Monday, Maulana Saeedur Rehman, principal of Nadwatul Ulema had visited the CM with a delegation led by Maulana Wamiq Warsi of Dewa Shareef and Maulana Rashid Ali of Shahmina Shah. These leaders too claimed they had met the CM only to wish him on Diwali.On Friday Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hindi president Maulana Arshad Madani also met the CM. Madani, who is a respected figure among the clerics at Darul Uloom Deoband and has a strong say among Muslims in western UP was on his way to Patna from Delhi when he stopped over to meet the CM.On October 19, Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Delhi Maulana Syed Ahmad Bukhari met the CM and later called up on his father and SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav to express his concern over the ongoing tussle within the Yadav clan and how it could impact the Muslim voters in the state which goes to poll early next year."The meetings have yielded positive results," Bukhari told reporters.