Akhilesh Yadav expands Cabinet, Balram back

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav (right) and general secretary Ram Gopal at the swearing-in ceremony at Raj Bhavan in Lucknow. (Photo: PTI)

UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Monday inducted two Cabinet ministers and two ministers of state with independent charge into his council of ministers.

The chief minister, on Monday, also dismissed Cabinet minister Manoj Pandey who held the portfolio of science and technology.

Those who were inducted as Cabinet ministers include Balram Yadav, who had been dismissed last week for allegedly facilitating the merger of Qaumi Ekta Dal in the Samajwadi Party, and Narad Rai, also known as a Mulayam loyalist.

The Samajwadi Parliamentary Board, which met last week, had decided to re-induct Balram Yadav into the Cabinet and the SP president had also mounted pressure for the inclusion of Mr Rai, who had been dropped from the council of ministers in October 2015 for unspecified reasons.

The two ministers of state with independent charge who were sworn on Monday include Ravidas Mehrotra and Sharda Pratap Shukla.

Both of them are from Lucknow and are among the senior most legislators in the party and have worked closely with Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Incidentally, Mr Shukla has been facing charges of land grabbing in his Sarojini Nagar constituency.

With the induction of four ministers — all on the insistence of Mulayam Singh Yadav — the chief minister, apparently, could not induct young blood into the Cabinet. Sources said that the chief minister was keen to induct one of his two associates, Sunil Sajan or Anand Bhadauria and elevate another state minister Yasser Shah to Cabinet rank but pressures from the family did not allow him to do so.

Another SP MLA, Ziyauddin Rizvi, is also to be inducted as Cabinet minister but he will be administered the oath later since he is away on pilgrimage.

The oath of office and secrecy was administered by governor Ram Naik at a function in Raj Bhawan.

Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh were present at the function, but senior minister Shivpal Singh Yadav and Azam Khan stayed away from the swearing in ceremony. Both are reportedly upset at the manner in which the merger of Qaumi Ekta Dal was cancelled at the insistence of Akhilesh Yadav.

Amar Singh however, downplayed Shivpal Singh Yadav’s absence and said that the media should not see too much into it. He said there was no tension in the family.

Meanwhile, sources said that SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav had also asked for the dismissal of UP minister Rajendra Chaudhary but Akhilesh Yadav dismissed Manoj Pandey instead.

Mr Pandey was known as the Brahmin face of the party and was a favourite of the party chief.

The induction of RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary was also deferred due to an obvious tussle within the Yadav family.