UP chief minister Mayawati has created a record of sorts by dropping the maximum number of ministers in her four-and-a half-year tenure.
Ms Mayawati, till date, has dropped 13 ministers from her council of ministers for reasons ranging from corruption to involvement in crime and other such allegations.
Her predecessors Mulayam Singh Yadav and Rajnath Singh had dropped two ministers each while Kalyan Singh could not go beyond dropping five ministers in his tenure.
One of the first ministers to be dropped in the Mayawati government was Sudhir Goyal.
Mr Goyal, who was information minister, was asked to resign within weeks of being sworn in and sources claimed that he had made unjustified demands on his department and, hence, invited action.
Anand Sen Yadav, a Cabinet minister was asked to put in his papers after he was found to be involved in the abduction and murder of his pregnant girlfriend in Faizabad.
Jamuna Prasad Nishad (now deceased) was shown the door when he created mayhem at a police station and firing by his supporters led to the death of a constable.
R.P. Sankhawar was given marching orders when he was found to be involved in a drug purchase scam. State minister Vidya Choudhury was also removed following complaints.
Ashok Dohre was removed from the council of ministers for his alleged misconduct while K.K. Gautam was dumped for “party reasons”.
On the recommendation of the Lokayukta, the chief minister has so far removed four ministers.
They include Rajesh Tripathi, Avadh Pal Singh Yadav, Badshah Singh and Ranganath Misra.