<p>An Uttar Pradesh minister has realised that though former chief minister Mayawati is not ruling the state, her close and loyal bureaucrats were still powerful and call the shots.<br /><br /></p>.<p>UP minister Raja Ram Pandey, despite his best efforts, has not been able to get a once ‘very powerful’ bureaucrat to vacate the bungalow that had been allotted to him even after one month of being sworn in as minister. <br /><br />Pandey was allotted a bungalow in the posh Rajbhavan Colony after he became a cabinet minister in Akhilesh Yadav’s ministry last month. Senior IAS officer and former principal secretary, home, Fatesh Bahadur Singh is still residing there. <br /><br />He is considered to be a close confidante of Mayawati. When Singh was transferred to Allahabad, the same was allotted to Pandey.<br /><br />But much to the dismay of Pandey, Singh has not yet vacated the bungalow and no one dares ask him to vacate it. <br /><br />“I am unable to understand why the officials are so scared of Singh. They are not able to get him to vacate the house. He is just a cabinet minister, and it is the responsibility of the officials to ensure possession of the house to me,” Pandey said.<br /><br />For the past one month, Pandey has been staying at a friend’s house in Lucknow. <br /><br />“He not only meets people and officials at his friend’s house but also disposes off official files from there,” said an official said.<br /><br />“I am literally on the road, how long can I continue to live at the friend’s house?” he said.<br /><br />The officials, however, express their helplessness. “There is a set procedure for such things,” they said. <br /><br />“In reality, no one has the courage to talk to Singh....till recently he was one of the most powerful bureaucrats,” quipped a senior official.</p>
<p>An Uttar Pradesh minister has realised that though former chief minister Mayawati is not ruling the state, her close and loyal bureaucrats were still powerful and call the shots.<br /><br /></p>.<p>UP minister Raja Ram Pandey, despite his best efforts, has not been able to get a once ‘very powerful’ bureaucrat to vacate the bungalow that had been allotted to him even after one month of being sworn in as minister. <br /><br />Pandey was allotted a bungalow in the posh Rajbhavan Colony after he became a cabinet minister in Akhilesh Yadav’s ministry last month. Senior IAS officer and former principal secretary, home, Fatesh Bahadur Singh is still residing there. <br /><br />He is considered to be a close confidante of Mayawati. When Singh was transferred to Allahabad, the same was allotted to Pandey.<br /><br />But much to the dismay of Pandey, Singh has not yet vacated the bungalow and no one dares ask him to vacate it. <br /><br />“I am unable to understand why the officials are so scared of Singh. They are not able to get him to vacate the house. He is just a cabinet minister, and it is the responsibility of the officials to ensure possession of the house to me,” Pandey said.<br /><br />For the past one month, Pandey has been staying at a friend’s house in Lucknow. <br /><br />“He not only meets people and officials at his friend’s house but also disposes off official files from there,” said an official said.<br /><br />“I am literally on the road, how long can I continue to live at the friend’s house?” he said.<br /><br />The officials, however, express their helplessness. “There is a set procedure for such things,” they said. <br /><br />“In reality, no one has the courage to talk to Singh....till recently he was one of the most powerful bureaucrats,” quipped a senior official.</p>