After sacking two ministers from his Cabinet, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav sacked state chief secretary Deepak Singhal, considered close to minister Shivpal Yadav, barely two months after he took charge.
Principal Secretary (Finance) Rahul Bhatnagar has been appointed the new Chief Secretary.
"Singhal has been removed and put on wait list. Principal Secretary (Finance) Rahul Bhatnagar has been made new Chief Secretary," an official spokesman said.
Though no reason was given behind the development, Samajwadi Party insiders said the chief minister was perhaps not happy with him as he had attended a dinner hosted by SP Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh in Delhi which Akhilesh gave a miss.
The party insiders said Akhilesh was not very happy with Singhal, considered close to the chief minister's uncle and senior cabinet minister Shivpal Yadav.
Differences of opinion between Akhilesh and Shivpal have been reported on several occasions in the past, including on the choice of official to be appointed as the state's chief secretary after Alok Ranjan's term ended, and the postponement of Qaumi Ekta Dal's merger with SP.
Singhal was earlier Principal Secretary (Irrigation), a department held by Shivpal.
The removal of Singhal comes hours after Principal Secretary (Mining) Gurdeep Singh was transferred to Food and Civil Supplies department replacing Sudhir Garg, who was made Principal Secretary (Mining). The CBI is probing allegations of corruption in the mining department on the direction of the Allahabad High Court.
(With inputs from PTI)
Comments
0 comment