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‘Unhappy with bureaucrats’: UP minister sends resignation to Amit Shah
Dinesh Khatik, a two-time legislator, was inducted by chief minister Yogi Adityanath as a minister of state (MoS) for jal shakti, in September last year.
Dinesh Khatik, an influential Dalit minister from western Uttar Pradesh, on Wednesday sent his resignation from the state council of ministers to Union home minister Amit Shah, complaining that officials did not listen to him or share any information about his ministry with him.
Khatik, a two-time legislator, was inducted by chief minister Yogi Adityanath as a minister of state (MoS) for jal shakti, in September last year. He was again made a minister of state, for jal shakti when the new Yogi government was sworn in on March 25 after the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.
A copy of his resignation letter that emerged on social media was addressed to Shah rather than the chief minister, a move that is being interpreted as his willngness to be persuaded to stay on as minister.
Governor Anandiben Patel has forwarded the minister’s resignation — she received a copy of the letter to Shah— to chief minister Yogi Adityanath for his advice according to a Raj Bhavan official.
“The governor accepts resignation of a minister only on the advice of chief minister and so it is for the chief minister to decide on the issue,” added this personl. A spokesman for the state government refused to confirm any developments about resignation.
Khatik’s letter did not directly target his cabinet minister Swatantra Dev Singh but the bureaucracy, who he said thought that the minister of state should not expect anything more than an official car.
His letter repeatedly referred to the fact that he was a Dalit.
Dalits, along with OBCs, have been the mainstays of BJP’s spectacular wins in the state.
Khatik said he was not kept in the loop by the officials in matters related to the ministry, nor invited to any of the departmental meetings.
The minister cited one instance where he sought information on July 9 about transfers in the department after receiving complaints of irregularities and corruption but did not get a response despite speaking to top officials of the government and the department.
“Keeping chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s zero tolerance to corruption in mind, on July 9, I sought details about the transfers made in the department in 2022-23 but I that too wasn’t provided to me,” Khatik said in his letter.
“When I sought clarification, my phone was bluntly disconnected midway through the conversation and this is a big insult to an elected public representative,” Khatik said in his letter while blaming a senior bureaucrat in the irrigation department for this. He also alleged that there was widespread corruption in the Namami Gange scheme and in departmental transfers and postings. “My charges can be independently investigated by any agency,” he said.
Some of his aides indicated that the minister, who represents Meerut’s Hastinapur seat in the assembly, may be on his way to Delhi for a meeting with party leaders.
Khatik’s senior minister Swatantra Dev Singh, who is also the state BJP chief, had earlier denied rumours that the junior minister was unhappy. “I talk to him daily,” said Singh.
Khatik threatened to resign last month over police action against a trader in Meerut’s Ganganagar and the reluctance of the local police officials to act on his directions.
There were unconfirmed reports that the sulking minister recently met a senior BJP functionary at the party office and was advised to meet the party leadership.
Reacting to the UP Dalit minister’s perceived unhappiness, former minister and present chief of Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) Om Prakash Rajbhar said, “As it is, the ministers of state don’t have much say. Perhaps it is all an exercise to be the cabinet minister.”
Rajbhar added: “All I know is that Swatantra Dev, who heads the department is a hardworking minister and leader connected to the grassroots.”
“Where there is no respect in being a minister and disrespect for being a Dalit, in such a situation to ensure respect of one’s community, the better and logical thing to do is to resign … At times, the bulldozer does move backwards too,” Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav tweeted.
