UP: Anger at 'double standards' against corruption bursts forth

Discontent against the alleged arbitrary style of functioning of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was simmering before it spilled into the public domain on July 19, when one minister resigned and another showed his belligerence.

The resentment openly aired by the minister of state for Jal Shakti department, Dinesh Khatik, through his resignation letter addressed to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and issues aired by PWD minister Jitin Prasada speak volumes of the goings on in Lucknow, even as the chief minister insists on proclaiming that everything was well here.

While spelling out his pain and chagrin in his two-page letter to Shah, junior UP minister Khatik has also stated many things between the lines. Even as he and Jitin Prasada made it a point to praise the chief minister's "zero tolerance to corruption" policy, they have obliquely hinted at his double standards in dealing with corruption.

Alleging that he was discriminated against essentially because of his Dalit lineage, Khatik indicated how his superiors and subordinates ignored issues he raised. When he seeks to draw Shah's attention to his blatant neglect by his department's secretary, it is a clear hint that the concerned IAS officer has some patronage from above. "The secretary goes to the extent of disconnecting my phone calls," the minister lamented.

Read | Dalit minister resigns as rift surfaces in UP ministry over transfers

Jitin Prasada is understood to have flown down to Delhi to air his grievance before Amit Shah. What had irked him was the sudden suspension of his own officer on special duty (OSD), who the chief minister pointedly accused of indulging in gross irregularities in the lucrative department of public works.

The chief minister also ordered a vigilance probe against Prasada's OSD. Significantly, all this happened after Prasada raised objections against a series of transfers ordered during his absence by the principal secretary and engineer-in-chief of the department. Even here, whispers in the corridor hinted that some of the transfers had the unwritten nod of the chief minister.

Prasada cancelled the transfers and took up each of the cases afresh. He did not hesitate to lambast the action carried out behind his back, even though he discreetly avoided naming the powers behind it.

Those familiar with the rules of business of the state government point out that the suspension of the PWD minister's OSD without even taking the minister into confidence was highly unusual. It was also an indirect slur on Prasada, who is known for his forthrightness. It may be pertinent to mention here that Prasada had switched loyalties from the Congress because of gross neglect by Rahul Gandhi, who was quite close to him at one point. He was ushered into the BJP with much fanfare, and in Yogi 2.0, he was entrusted with a key ministry like PWD.

According to insiders, Prasada had undertaken a lot of "cleansing" in the department, widely known as a hotbed of corruption. His two predecessors Keshav Prasad Maurya in Adityanath's first stint and Shivpal Yadav during successive Samajwadi Party regimes, always remained quite controversial as far as their handling of the department was concerned.
Now the action taken against his OSD has surely marred his image. No wonder he chose to air his resentment before the party bigwigs in Delhi.

Interestingly, some insiders also allege that resentment against Adityanath's style of functioning was also because of his "double standards" in dealing with the corrupt. According to a prominent party leader, the "zero tolerance to corruption" resolve has not been uniformly applied. "One OSD during the first term of the Adityanath government was allegedly into many shady deals and was known for flamboyant ways. Even top IAS officers in the CM's secretariat would not dare come in his way. The CM was eventually compelled to remove him during his second term. No action was ordered against him, not even an inquiry," disclosed the party leader.

Likewise, a prominent minister, against whom there were several complaints, was dropped from the state cabinet during Yogi 2.0 only after Delhi intervened. The list is long and includes a handful of bureaucrats as well. What has irked many is the selective targeting of the "corrupt".

(Sharat Pradhan is a journalist and author based in Lucknow)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.