UP Cabinet: Akhilesh Yadav aims to infuse new blood

The ministers who have been divested of their portfolios are Ahmad Hasan (health), Avadhesh Prasad (social welfare), Paras Nath Yadav (food processing), Ram Govind Chaudhary (basic education), Durga Prasad Yadav (transport), Brahma Shankar Tripathi (home guards), Raghuraj Pratap Singh (food and civil supplies), Iqbal Mehmood (fisheries) and Mehboob Ali (secondary education).

These ministers are expected to get new portfolios after the Cabinet expansion that is expected to take place over the weekend.

What is most significant about the removal of ministers on Thursday is that a majority of them are senior Samajwadi leaders and have been with the party since its inception. Ministers like Ram Govind Chaudhary, Ambica Chaudhary, Durga Yadav, Narad Rai and Paras Nath Yadav are considered to be “pillars” in the Samajwadi Party and their removal in the midst of panchayat polls has undoubtedly sent out the wrong signals. Sources said Ram Govind Chaudhary was stripped of his portfolio apparently under pressure from the IAS lobby. Mr Chaudhary had been supportive of the Allahabad high court order that makes it mandatory for all government servants to send their children to government schools. The IAS lobby, on the other hand, is vehemently opposing this and wanted the state government to appeal against the judgment.

Similarly, Ahmad Hasan was divested of the health portfolio after the near collapse of health services in the state that had dented the image of the state government. Ironically, the chief minister has repeatedly said the best performance in his government was in the health sector. The removal of Thakur leaders like Raja Mahendra Aridaman Singh and Yogesh Pratap Singh and the divesting of the portfolio of Raghuraj Pratap Singh will also not be without consequences. Sources said the chief minister now wants to bring in fresh blood into the council of ministers and give a new image to his government.

Political analysts, however, feel that this exercise is rather delayed and too drastic, and could well lead to unrest in party ranks as all the ministers who have been dropped or lost portfolios have a loyal following in the party.

One of the dropped ministers told this correspondent: “If the chief minister wanted to reconstitute his council of ministers he could have done in it in a more dignified manner. He should have taken everyone’s resignation and then reconstituted it according to his choice. All of us are feeling very insulted and humiliated,” he said. The chief minister was unavailable for comment.