A Cabinet minister and a minister of state in the Akhilesh Yadav government are at war.
Minister of state for khadi and village industries Riyaz Ahmad has sent a letter to the chief minister, objecting to transfers of officers in his ministry. The minister of state has further demanded a high-level probe into the issue.
Mr Ahmed has claimed in his letter that there were irregularities in transfer and posting of officers which was not in the interest of the Samajwadi Party (SP) government and its stance against corruption in the state.
The fact that the letter mounts a veiled attack on Cabinet minister for khadi and village industries Rajaram Pandey by his own subordinate makes the issue all the more sensitive.
Mr Ahmed has been upset with his Cabinet minister ever since the latter appointed his acolyte Natwar Goel a builder of questionable background, as vice-chairman of the Khadi and Village Industries Welfare Board in May 2012 without taking the minister of state into confidence. Mr Ahmed had then stated that he came to know about the appointment through the newspapers.
Mr Goel was later sacked form his post by chief minister Akhilesh Yadav when he allegedly assaulted a photo journalist in Lucknow last month.
The minister of state had also raised objections to transfers in the department without his knowledge earlier and had said that the Cabinet minister was working on his whims. The party leadership, at that time, assured him that the matter will be resolved soon.
Meanwhile, Mr Pandey feigned ignorance about any letter sent to the chief minister regarding transfer and posting of officers by his minister of state and said that the information was not authentic.
This, incidentally, is the first political crisis, if it may be called so, of the Akhilesh Yadav government and the minister of state, this time, seems to be in an unrelenting mood.
Commenting on the issue, a senior minister admitted that the matter should be attended to without delay. “This is just the beginning and the chief minister must step in to resolve the issue before others begin to follow suit. There are problems and we must tackle them instead of denying them,” he said.
According to reports, there are, at least, three other ministers of state who are at war with their senior ministers in the UP government and are waiting for the “right time” to become vocal.