Lucknow: Akhilesh Yadav, the Samajwadi Party chief, has taken a jab at the BJP, suggesting that the Uttar Pradesh government should establish a new 'Threat Ministry' to accommodate its MLAs. This remark was made in response to recent controversies surrounding a BJP MLA from Ghaziabad.
"The honourable Chief Minister should also create a 'Threat Ministry' to accommodate BJP MLAs in Uttar Pradesh. He already has several qualified candidates from his party to become ministers in this ministry. However, if he wants, he can keep this ministry himself, as no one else has more qualifications and experience than him in this specific field," Yadav posted on X on Friday.
This comment came after BJP MLA Nand Kishor Gurjar was involved in a scuffle with police in Ghaziabad over a Ram 'Katha yatra' and allegedly threatened the Chief Secretary and the Commissioner.
In another post on X, Akhilesh Yadav criticised the suspension of IAS officer Abhishek Prakash caught in a graft controversy, calling it a "drama" and alleging deeper corruption within the UP administration.
He suggested that the BJP revise its slogan to "Sab Mil Bant, Kare Bantadhar (Everyone shares, everyone destroys)."
"This is the truth of 'ease of doing business' in Uttar Pradesh, where commissions are openly demanded in the name of industrial development. When the matter is exposed, a drama of suspension is staged," Yadav posted. "The last stop of this corruption is not the officer, but someone else," he pointed out.
The Uttar Pradesh government suspended Abhishek Prakash, a 2006-batch IAS officer, under the state's zero-tolerance policy against corruption.
Abhishek Prakash, the CEO of Invest UP and former district magistrate of Lucknow, has been accused of demanding a 5% commission from an entrepreneur looking to set up a solar plant.
The entrepreneur's complaint to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath sparked a swift investigation by the Special Task Force, which found the allegations credible. As a result, an FIR was registered against Nikaynt Jain, the alleged middleman, at the Gomti Nagar police station, and he was subsequently arrested.
Following the investigation, Prakash was suspended and attached to the Revenue Board. Additional CEO Prathamesh Kumar has been appointed as the new CEO of ‘Invest UP’.
So far, action has been taken against 11 IAS officers in the state, with several of them reinstated after investigations. Under the terms of his suspension, Abhishek Prakash cannot leave the headquarters without prior permission.
(inputs from IANS)