Former Uttar Pradesh Mining Minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati, who had been sacked less than two weeks back by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, was sworn in again on Monday along with nine other ministers.
Mr. Prajapati took oath as a cabinet minister as Mr. Yadav inducted four new cabinet ministers and promoted six other State ministers to cabinet rank. Apart from Mr. Prajapati, two Brahmin faces, Manoj Pandey and Shivakant Ojha, who had also been sacked, returned as cabinet ministers.
Ballia MLA Ziauddin Rizvi who had been waiting to take oath since June 27, when his name was officially announced, was also finally sworn in. State Minister for Food and Civil Supplies Laxmikant alias Pappu Nishad was dropped from the ministry.
Mr Prajapati’s return saw the opposition dub Mr Yadav a “weak CM” and point to “multiple power centres” in his government. The strain was perceptible when the junior Yadav tried to prevent Mr. Prajapati from touching his feet during the ceremony, where both SP supremo Mulayam Singh and his brother Shivpal Yadav were present. Mr Mulayam Singh, recently announced that all action against the minister would be annulled.
An OBC leader and first-time MLA from Amethi, Mr. Prajapati has been mired in controversies and charges of corruption and land grabs. The Lokayukta even probed a case of disproportionate assets against him and he has been accused of enrolling his daughter for a scheme meant for the poor even though he is a millionaire.
Opposition raises concerns
BSP chief Mayawati said Mr. Yadav frequent changes and the return of Mr. Prajapati had shown him as a “weak CM” who was prone to “u-turns”. It also proved that apart from bad law and order, under the SP government, corruption will also continue unabated, she said.
“People in the state are unable to grasp why a minister recently sacked for corruption allegations in his mining department and facing a CBI probe — under what compulsion was he re-instated as a minister?” Ms. Mayawati asked.
While Mr. Prajapati is yet to be allotted a department, Ms.Mayawati asked “even if his department is changed, will his nature and character change?”
BJP State president Keshav Prasad Maurya said Mr. Prajapati’s return was an “open endorsement to corruption” and patronage to those indulging in illegal mining. “Reinstating a person against whom a CBI order has been ordered by the HC strengthens corruption. The return of all three ministers sacked by Akhilesh Yadav gives credence to what we have always said: there are multiple power centres in the government,” Mr. Maurya said.
Congress spokesperson Satyadev Tripathi said Mr. Prajapati's case “glorified corruption.”
A social activist Nutan Thakur filed a petition in the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court against Mr. Prajapati’s re-induction. Citing Article 164 of the Constitution, Ms. Thakur said when Mr. Prajapati was sacked on serious corruption charges, “he had lost the pleasure of the Governor and hence, he cannot be re-inducted in the ministry unless the facts and reasons on which he had lost the pleasure of the Governor get removed.”
