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Bhupendra Chaudhary resigns from Yogi cabinet after taking over as U.P BJP chief
The U.P BJP circle is abuzz with rumours that Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary portfolio in the Yogi cabinet could be allotted to deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya
A day after taking charge as the head of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Uttar Pradesh unit, Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary, on Tuesday, resigned from his post of cabinet minister for panchayati raj in the chief minister Yogi Adityanath-led state government.
After Chaudhary’s resignation, that is in line with the BJP’s ‘one person- one post’ policy, the buzz is that his portfolio could be allotted to deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, who is also the minister for urban development.
The panchayati raj ministry is seen as a natural extension of Maurya’s portfolio. Also, at the Centre, both rural development and panchayati raj ministries are under Union minister Giriraj Singh, a point that has accelerated the buzz around Maurya getting charge of panchayati raj too.
However, a senior officer said that nothing is certain as of now. “These are political decisions and so while the buzz is about a certain minister, nothing can be said till the name is announced. The final call would be taken by the chief minister, who is the head of the council of ministers,” this officer said.
Chaudhary, 55, who has become the first Jhat BJP chief in the state, tweeted about his expected resignation from the council of ministers on Tuesday.
“I have resigned from the cabinet today and would now discharge the responsibility of the state chief of the BJP.” Chaudhary tweeted while thanking the party leadership for guidance and leadership.
Interestingly, having resigned as minister due to the party’s ‘one person - one post’ policy, Chaudhary is now expected to apply the same rule on several party functionaries who have become ministers in Yogi 2.0 government, replacing them from party positions when he sets up a new committee of office -bearers.
“Party vice-presidents AK Sharma and Daya Shankar Singh have both become ministers. While Sharma is the cabinet minister for urban development and power, Singh is the minister of state (independent charge) for transport. Party general secretary JPS Rathore is the minister of state for cooperatives. Narendra Kashyap, the head of the BJP’s OBC wing has been made the minister for backward classes’ welfare.
Throughout the day, there was a long queue of party functionaries, leaders and ministers to meet Chaudhary.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath praised Chaudhary’s performance as the panchayati raj minister at the welcome function held for the new BJP chief at the party headquarters in Lucknow on Monday.
“U.P. is a big state with 18 commissionerates, 75 districts, 826 development blocks, 3,000-plus nyay panchayats, more than 58,000 gram panchayats and over 1.10 lakh revenue villages. You would have seen during Bhupendra ji’s tenure as panchayati raj minister, the BJP won 67 of the 75 zila panchayat chief posts. Of the 826 development blocks, more than 650 block pramukhs were from the BJP. Most of the gram panchayats now have a BJP member as gram pradhans. Bhupendra Singhji’s tenure also saw the state taking a giant stride towards making the state ODF (open defecation free) plus,” Yogi said.
As panchayati raj minister, Chaudhary earned laurels for constructing most toilets in rural areas as part of the government’s cleanliness mission.
