Gayatri Prasad Prajapati, sacked as Mining Minister and then taken back into the Akhilesh Yadav Cabinet in the latest re-shuffle, was on Saturday allotted the relatively low-profile Transport Ministry.
Mr. Prajapati was among the 10 new members of the Uttar Pradesh Ministry which the Chief Minister expanded for the eighth time on September 26. The Social Welfare Ministry has been taken from Samajwadi Party State president and Cabinet Minister Shivpal Yadav and allotted to Shankhlal Manjhi, who has also got the SC & ST and Sainik Welfare Departments.
Mr. Akhilesh Yadav had earlier divested his uncle of the high-profile PWD portfolio and kept it for himself in the heat of the tussle in the Yadav clan.
The departments were allotted to the ministers by Governor Ram Naik on the “proposal of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav,” a Raj Bhawan spokesperson said.
Mr. Prajapati, a first-time MLA from Amethi, was recently sacked as Mining Minister a few days after the Allahabad High court rejected the government’s application challenging a CBI probe into the charges of illegal mining. The removal of Mr. Prajapati, who was at the centre of controversies and corruption allegations since his induction into the Cabinet in 2013, was seen as the Chief Minister’s way of shielding his image in the run-up to the Assembly elections. But it brought to the fore the fissures within the party and the Yadav family.
Mr. Prajapati’s rise, from the BPL category to a millionaire, had been the focus of speculation in political circles. He faced charges of land grab. The Lokayukta even probed a case of disproportionate assets against him. He was also accused of enrolling his daughter for a scheme meant for the poor. When he took the oath as Minister last week, it was the fourth time he did so in the Akhilesh Yadav government. Mr. Prajapati enjoys the patronage of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. Before holding the Mining portfolio, he had worked under Mr. Shivpal Yadav in the PWD Ministry and Akhilesh Yadav in the mining department.
In the recent expansion, Mr. Akhilesh Yadav inducted four new Cabinet Ministers and promoted six other State Ministers to the Cabinet rank. They included three Muslims and three Brahmins. Sensing that Muslims may be losing confidence in it, and the coming-together of Dalits and Muslims, the Samajwadi Party is again reaching out to the community. However, its surprise out-reach to the Brahmins has posed new challenges to the BSP and the Congress and even the BJP, which have been aggressively wooing the community.
While Manoj Pandey was allotted electronics and information technology, Shivakant Ojha got the medical and health department. Another Brahmin, Abhishek Mishra, got the vocational education and skill development portfolio. Mr. Ojha and Mr. Pandey had been sacked previously and were re-instated along with Mr. Prajapati.
Ziauddin Rizvi got the livestock department, while Yasar Shah got the business tax portfolio. Riyaz Ahmed was allotted fisheries and public enterprises.
Mr. Prajapati’s return to the Cabinet has been questioned by the Opposition as he is yet to be cleared of the illegal mining allegations. Social activist Nutan Thakur has even filed a petition in the High Court challenging his re-induction on constitutional grounds.
