Eye on polls, bureaucracy’s rejig begins after BJP feedback sessions

LUCKNOW: The transfer of senior IAS officers in Uttar Pradesh comes two days after Bharatiya Janata Party national general secretary (organization) BL Santhosh and the party’s Uttar Pradesh in-charge Radha Mohan Singh completed feedback sessions with ministers, MLAs and state unit office bearers about the working of the state government as well as the strategy for the 2022 assembly election.

During the meetings, the ministers and MLAs raised the issue of the “uncontrolled functioning” of bureaucrats, alleged involvement of some officers in corruption, besides officers not taking the calls made by the ministers, MLAs and MPs. They also claimed the appointment of officers in various departments had been made without the ministers’ consent.

The MLAs said that in several districts, the district magistrates were not informing the people’s representatives about the progress of development and welfare schemes and even matters referred by the MLAs were overlooked, said a BJP leader familiar with developments at the meetings.

Another BJP leader, who did not wish to be named, said along

with overhauling the bureaucracy before the 2022 assembly election, the state government had decided to fill up vacant posts in various boards, corporations and commissions. Vacancies in the BJP’s fronts, including Mahila Morcha, Yuva Morcha, Scheduled Caste Morcha, besides minority, OBC, traders’, intellectual, and legal cells, will

be filled soon, too.

In the meeting with chief minister Yogi Adityanath, deputy chief ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma, the two leaders Santhosh and Singh discussed the issues raised by the ministers and MLAs regarding the bureaucracy.

Thereafter, the state government shifted 18 officers and more were likely to be transferred soon, a party leader said.

With eight months left for the assembly election, the state government does not want a tussle between officials and MLAs.

The state government faced embarrassment in the state assembly in December 2019 when several ruling party MLAs, led by BJP lawmaker from Loni in Ghaziabad, Nand Kishor Gujjar, staged a dharna (sit-in) in protest against the working of the district administration officers.

While reviewing Covid management with district magistrates and superintendents of police, the chief minister had directed the officers to hold regular meetings with people’s representatives, brief the MLAs and MPs about the progress of various health projects, hand over the list and mobile numbers of patients admitted in the hospitals to local MLAs, the party leader said.

All eyes are now on party meetings to be chaired by BJP national president JP Nadda in Delhi on June 5 and 6.

The BJP leaders will review preparations for the 2022 assembly election in UP.

Along with cabinet expansion in UP, the leaders are likely to mull over the assembly election strategy.