Akhilesh reasserts authority, pulls Shivpal out of two departments
In an apparent re-assertion of authority, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday took away two departments from the charge of his uncle, Shivpal Singh Yadav, and denied Gayatri Prasad Prajapati the key mining ministry.
In an apparent re-assertion of authority, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday took away two departments from the charge of his uncle, Shivpal Singh Yadav, and denied Gayatri Prasad Prajapati the key mining ministry.
Akhilesh Yadav gave Prajapati the transport ministry instead and took away the social welfare and minor irrigation departments, while allocating portfolios to the 10 recently sworn-in cabinet ministers.
Shivpal continues to hold charge of 12 departments, including irrigation, revenue, cooperatives, medical education, etc.
Prajapati’s dismissal on September 12 had triggered a feud in the Samajwadi Party’s first family, and the chief minister stripped Shivpal of the key PWD portfolio the next day. Prajapati faced charges of corruption in the mining department.
Although Prajapati was re-inducted on SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s instructions, the chief minister has denied him the mining department.
Akhilesh’s re-assertion of authority is also reflected in his decision to take away the social welfare and minor irrigation departments from Shivpal. The CM had given Shivpal these departments to make up for depriving him of the key PWD portfolio.
The allocations were:
■ Manoj Kumar Pandey - electronics and information technology
■ Shivakant Ojha - medical and health
■ Ziauddin Rizvi - animal husbandry
■ Yasser Shah - tax and registration (trade tax)
■ Riyaz Ahmed - fisheries and public sector undertakings
■ Ravidas Mehrotra - family welfare, mother and child welfare
■ Narendra Verma - cane development and sugar mills
■ Shankh Lal Majhi - scheduled caste and tribe welfare and ex-servicemen welfare
■ Abhishek Mishra - vocational education and skill development
■ Mehboob Ali - minor irrigation portfolio
A Raj Bhawan communique said governor Ram Naik had approved the allocation of portfolios to the 10 ministers on the recommendation of the chief minister.
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