UP issues notices to 8 DMs, 10 SPs

Lucknow: UP CM Akhilesh Yadav took the administration by surprise when

he issued showcause notices to eight district magistrates and 10 SPs for their absence from their respective offices.

After dismissing 36 Samajwadi leaders who held position with ministerial status, UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is now preparing to give marching orders to some of the senior ministers in his Cabinet.

Though the CM, on Tuesday, ruled out the possibility of his own resignation, he is now consulting party president Mulayam Singh Yadav to finalise the list of names that will be dropped from the council of ministers, following the ruling party’s extremely poor show in the recently- concluded Lok Sabha elections.

Highly placed sources in the party said that prominent among the senior ministers who could be asked to put in their papers or face dismissal, was Balram Singh who holds the panchayati raj portfolio.

One of the senior- most

Brahma Shankar Tripathi, Raja Mahendra Aridaman Singh, Raj Kishore Singh, and Raghuraj Pratap Singh, a. k. a. Raja Bhaiyya, are set to face the music

members of the state Cabinet, Balram Yadav is now being blamed for the huge anti- incumbency wave that greeted Mulayam Singh Yadav in Azamgarh. Complaints about Mr Yadav and two other ministers Wasim Ahmad and Durga Yadav — all of whom belong to Azamgarh — were heaped on the SP president during elections which made his victory rather tough in the constituency.

Tourism minister Om Prakash Singh may also be dropped from the Cabinet, mainly because of his proximity to Balram Yadav. He belongs to Ghazipur where the party has fared rather miserably and the party candidate Shivkanya Khushwaha has also accused the minister of poor cooperation.

Minister for home guards Brahma Shankar Tripathi, minister for stamp and registration Raja Mahendra Aridaman Singh, Raj Kishore Singh, who holds the minor irrigation and animal husbandry portfolio, and Mr Raghuraj Pratap Singh a. k. a. Raja Bhaiyya are among the leaders who may be dropped by the chief minister.