The reported resignation of UP Minister of State for Jal Shakti Dinesh Khatik that raised the political temperature from Lucknow to Delhi forced Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to extend an olive branch to embattled Minister on Thursday when he met him along with his senior Minister Swatantra Dev Singh.
The meeting lasted for almost 45 minutes. “I have told the Chief Minister about the issues and he has assured me that he will take redressal steps soon,” Khatik told reporters outside the CM’s residence here on Thursday.
Khatik had reportedly sent his resignation to Union Home Minister Amit Shah alleging that he was “sidelined because he is a Dalit”.
In his two-page letter, Khatik had alleged that he was not given any importance in decision-making because he was a Dalit.
He said he has no authority as a Minister and was not called for any meeting and was not briefed about the development in the Ministry. Without naming Singh, he said he was not assigned any work.
To sort out the differences between the two, the CM invited the two Ministers for a meeting. Around 4 pm, Singh drove down to the CM’s residence followed by Khatik.
“Everything is settled now. No one has resigned,” Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said in the evening.
Khatik had earlier gone to Delhi and met BJP president JP Nadda at his residence. Nadda assured him a solution would be found but advised that such issues should be raised at the party forum only.
After the resignation letter went viral, the Government and the party organisation started damage
Singh held an emergency meeting with the officials of the Jalshakti department. BJP leadership is forced to placate Khatik as the Minister has cleverly used the Dalit card in his resignation. The party has taken this very seriously. This is the reason why the bureaucracy was instructed to respect Ministers.
A senior official in the Jal Shakti department alleges that Khatik wanted favourable posting for “candidates”, but when it could not be done he played the Dalit card alleging corruption in the transfer of officials.