Hitting out at the Samajwadi Party Government, the Rashtriya lok Dal said that despite Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav having the numbers to rule the state, he had lost the moral authority to govern because of his failure to control the mining mafia.
Addressing a dharna organised by the party to oppose illegal mining in the state, RlD state president Munna Singh Chauhan said this illegal trade was flourishing in Uttar Pradesh because of the patronage it was getting from the ruling party leaders. “The state Government does not want to stop illegal mining because some of its top leaders are hand in glove with the mafia involved in this business. The officers who take up the gauntlet against these mafia are either placed under suspension or transferred to lesser important posts,” Chauhan said.
“The suspension of trainee IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal is a clear example of how the Government has muzzled the authority of bureaucracy,” the RlD state president said. He said it was strange that Akhilesh Yadav had the majority to rule but he was still bowing to the pressures of the mining mafia. “The Government should immediately check illegal mining and revoke the suspension of the trainee IAS officer,” he said. Durga Shakti Nagpal was posted as the sub-divisional magistrate at Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida) when she was suspended. The RlD also demanded a judicial probe into the sectarian clashes in lucknow.