In an attempt to spruce up the image of his Government, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav sacked eight Ministers, including five of Cabinet rank, and divested nine others of their portfolios, sending out a loud message that non-performers will have no place in his Cabinet. The Chief Minister will reshuffle his Cabinet on Saturday and is expected to induct new faces.
Cabinet Ministers who have been axed are Stamp and Registration Minister Raja Mahendra Aridaman Singh, Minister for Backward Welfare, Handicapped Welfare Ambika Chaudhary, Handloom and Silk Industry Minister Shiv Kumar Beria, Khadi Gramodyog Minister Narad Rai and Technical Education Minister Shivakant Ojha.
Junior Ministers who have been removed are Minister of State for Technical Education Alok Kumar Shakya, Minister of State for Primary Education Yogesh Pratap Singh and Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Export Promotion (Independent Charge) Bhagwat Saran Gangwar.
Besides, portfolios of nine Ministers have been withdrawn.
They are Health Minister Ahmad Hasan, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya, Social Welfare, SC and ST Welfare, Sainik Welfare Minister Awadhesh Prasad, Basic Education Minister Ram Govind Chaudhary, Secondary Education Minister Mahboob Ali, Horticulture and Food Processing Minister Paras Nath Yadav, Transport Minister Durga Prasad Yadav, Home Guard and PRD Minister Brahma Shankar Tripathi and Fisheries and Public Enterprise Minister Iqbal Mehmood.
They will, however, remain in the Council of Ministers and are expected to get new portfolios on October 31.
A statement from Raj Bhawan said that Governor Ram Naik had accepted the recommendations of the Chief Minister with immediate effect.
Akhilesh Yadav, who was earlier holding charge of 57 departments, will now shoulder the burden of 85 departments. At present, there are 14 vacancies in the Council of Ministers as its strength stands at 46 with 19 Cabinet Ministers, 24 Ministers of State and three Ministers of State with independent charge.
The decision to sack the Ministers is being seen as an attempt to send out a message among party workers that Ministers who fail to live up to the expectations of the people will be shown the door.
By sacking Ambika Chaudhary, the Chief Minister has tried to assert his independence in a big way. Chaudhary, who had lost the election in 2012, was made MlC due to proximity with Mulayam Singh Yadav. After reports of financial irregularities dogged him, he was removed from the Revenue Department and given the inconsequential Backward Welfare Department.
“Some of the Ministers who have been dropped would be given important responsibility in the party. Mulayam Singh Yadav has personally spoken to some of them,” a senior party leader told The Pioneer.
Meanwhile, demanding a CBI probe against Mining Minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati, BJP state chief laxmi Kant Bajpai charged that the Chief Minister has turned a blind eye to illegal mining for reasons best known to him and wondered why Prajapati did not get the boot.
“The CM has sacked a few Ministers. But this list does not include Prajapati. WhyIJ Questions are being asked as to why the CM was protecting a tainted Minister like Prajapati,” Bajpai told reporters in lucknow on Thursday.
“What is the intention to rejig the CabinetIJ Why has the CM spared a corrupt Minister like Prajapati and Azam Khan, who always speaks against Hindus,” he asked.