Adityanath shifts deputy CM Maurya out of fifth floor office
Deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya has shifted out of the fifth floor of Annexe building after he was politely ‘advised’ to do so.
This fifth floor has been the traditional seat of power as it housed the chief minister’s office over the years.
After visiting the Annexe on Wednesday, chief minister Yogi Adityanath got it conveyed to Maurya that he would like to function from the fifth floor office as making the new CM’s office at Lok Bhawan fully functional may take some time. This comes days after reports that there was a tussle between the CM and his deputy over who would keep the home portfolio.
Although the chief minister functioned from the Lok Bhawan office for some days, he worked at the Annexe office on Thursday.
After being sworn in as deputy CM, Maurya had made his office at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Bhawan (Annexe) and began working from where Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav ruled the state as CM till recently.
“Now, the chief minister’s name plate has been put up on the fifth floor office. Yogi met senior officers at the Annexe building here on Thursday,” confirmed a state government officer.
The CM had issued instructions to ban use of ‘gutkha’ and ‘pan masala’ in government buildings across UP during his visit to the Annexe.
Maurya has now shifted to his newly-allotted office at Vidhan Bhawan, where senior SP leader Mohammad Azam Khan used to work as minister for urban development and parliamentary affairs. He worked in his Vidhan Bhawan office for some time before leaving for New Delhi on Thursday. He was officially given the office at Vidhan Bhawan, but he probably liked the Annexe more and hence decided to work from there.
The other deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma may, however, work at the fifth floor office where Anita Singh worked as principal secretary to the chief minister.