Akhilesh sacks two ministers

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday sacked two senior ministers of his cabinet for “anti-party” activities and speculations are rife that more heads may roll in the coming days.

Sources said Anand Singh, who was the agriculture minister, was shown the door over his son and Kirthivardhan Singh’s allegation against Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. Kirthivardhan, an MP who recently joined the BJP, has claimed that he had to pay a bribe of Rs 5,000 to a leader to meet Mulayam even though he was a parliamentarian. The allegation was denied by the SP.

Though Anand Singh tried his best to explain that he has nothing to do with his son’s allegation and his decision to join the BJP, Akhilesh sacked him on Sunday as his continuance would have sent a wrong message to the party workers, sources said.

Minister of state for stamp Manoj Paras was sacked after he was made an accused in a rape case. The government had made efforts to withdraw the case which was pending at a Bareilly court but it could not succeed.

Sources said Akhilesh did not want to give his opponents an opportunity to attack him on this count. They said some more ministers could be sacked in the days to come.

Mulayam Singh Yadav had recently expressed displeasure with Akhilesh Yadav government in the state and asked the state ministers to mend their ways or be ready to face the consequences.  The SP supremo had told the ministers to either “perform” or “perish”.