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, thereby sending out a loud message that non-performers will have no place in his ministry.
The Chief Minister will re-shuffle his Cabinet on Saturday and is expected to induct new faces.
The Cabinet ministers who have been axed are Stamp and Registration Minister Raja Mahendra Aridaman Singh, Minister for Backward Welfare and Handicapped Ambika Chaudhary, Handloom and Silk Industry Minister Shiv Kumar Beria, Khadi and Gramodyog Minister Narad Rai and Technical Education Minister Shivakant Ojha.
The 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 Sharan Gangwar.
Besides, portfolios of nine ministers have been withdrawn. They include 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 Mehboob Ali, Horticulture and Food Processing Minister Paras Nath Yadav, Transport Minister Durga Prasad Yadav, Home Guard and PRD Minister Brahmashanker 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 purge the Cabinet and 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 sent a clear message. Chaudhary, who had lost election in 2012, was made MlC due to his proximity to Mulayam Singh Yadav and was even made a minister. After reports of bungling surfaced, he was removed from Revenue department and given the inconsequential Backward Welfare department. But there too he failed to meet the expectations of the people.
“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’.