Akhilesh sacks 82 MoS rank holders

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav Saturday evening sacked 82 persons holding minister-of-state rank, including advisors and chairmen of various corporations.

This mass sacking has rattled the supporters of the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP).

However, N.C. Bajpayi (deputy chairman, State Planning Commission), poet Gopal Das Neeraj (chairman, Hindi Bhasha Sansthan) and former party MP Uday Pratap Singh (chairman, Hindi Academy) have been spared.

The cracking of the whip was long overdue as the party leadership had made up its mind to axe these persons after the humiliating defeat of the party in the Lok Sabha elections, said party insiders.

Official sources said all perks, privileges, cars, security paraphernalia and staff given to these persons will be withdrawn soon.

Officials said the chief minister in consultation with party president Mulayam Singh Yadav will soon announce some new appointments.

The state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) welcomed the move and demanded that the tenure of these ministers be investigated threadbare.

"Now that the chief minister has booted them out, the BJP demands that their tenure be probed and the expenses made on them be made public," party spokesman Manoj Mishra said.

-- Indo-Asian News Service

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