New Delhi: In a major setback to the Yogi Adityanath government, a UP cabinet minister, belonging to one of BJP’s alliance partners, has threatened to stage a dharna from July 4 after publicly criticising the CM's style of functioning and for “failing to control corruption” in the state.
Om Prakash Rajbhar, the minister of Department of Backward Classes Welfare, said he is protesting as the bureaucrats in the state are turning a deaf ear to the complaints of people and the state government has not done anything to keep them in check.
The minister, who is the president of Suheldev Bharat Samaj Party (SBSP), has also threatened to walk out of the government, according to reports.
Although the SBSP has just 4 MLAs, including Rajbhar, and is numerically insignificant for the BJP in the UP assembly, the outfit holds a larger significance otherwise as it represents the backward Rajbhar community. It has a big presence in several districts of eastern UP, especially the belt around Ghazipur, Mau, Balia and Azamgarh.
According to sources, Rajbhar is upset with the Yogi government because he had sought the removal of the district magistrate of Ghazipur, but the demand was ignored. The minister had alleged that the DM was “corrupt” and was working as an “agent of the Samajwadi Party.”
The cause of his tirade against the magistrate, sources said, is that he had ordered the registration of an FIR against the minister’s brother and some associates after they allegedly assaulted some employees of the revenue department.
The employees had threatened to go on a strike if action was not taken against Rajbhar’s brother, after which a case was filed.
Now, Rajbhar says he would stage a protest in Ghazipur to press for his demand of the magistrate’s removal. “The DM says that no one can remove him. He does not listen to the public representatives,” he told reporters.
While only the SBSP chief has openly vented anger so far, sources said that Yogi’s resolve when it comes to not giving in to unjustified demands of elected representatives over postings and transfers, has not endeared the CM to some BJP leaders as well.
Rajbhar said he has informed the UP Chief Minister and the BJP organising secretary for state, Sunil Bansal, about “uncooperative and corrupt” officials. He said he has no option but to sit on a protest as his demands were ignored. He claimed that a BJP leader was protecting corrupt officials, and he would disclose his name soon.
“The state government has not taken any action against corrupt officials. The bureaucrats do not listen to ministers. People of the state had expected things would improve after a change of guard. Unfortunately nothing has changed,” he said.
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