Setback for Yogi as minister protest against UP govt

Ghazipur: The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh which celebrated its 100 days in office a few days back, is facing its first major crisis within the state government when a minister announced to sit on dharna against the District Magistrate from July 4. UP Backward Welfare and Divyang Minister and president of the Bharatiya Samaj Party (Suheldeo) Om Prakash Rajbhar, who is said to be opposed to Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha, today announced to sit on dharna against DM Sanjay Khatri from July 4.

Talking to UNI, Mr Rajbhar said "When your family members do not listen to you, then you will have to take some tough decisions. The DM was posted in Ghazipur during the Samajwadi Party rule but he has not been removed yet. When people had voted for us expecting to wipe out corruption and get justice, such thing is not acceptable." Though trying to give an impression that his agitation is not against the BJP government but against the DM, the Minister said, "I am against the corrupt DM and want justice for the people of Ghazipur." When asked why the government is not hearing a plea of the minister, Mr Rajbhar said, "Everyone knows who is protecting this corrupt DM and why a corrupt official is being given patronage.

Very soon everything would come out in public." Mr Rajbhar said he had complained to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, BJP general secretary (organisation) Sunil Bansal and minister in-charge Brajesh Pathak about the conspiracy against him but no action has been taken yet. It has been reported that the minister had asked the DM for doing 21 works in his constituency but none was done yet. Mr Khatri, however, refused to comment on the minister's charge against him.

State minister Om Prakash Rajbhar has been elected from Zahurabad assembly seat in Ghazipur district. Sources said that Union minister Manoj Sinha and Om Prakash Rajbhar were not in good terms since the assembly elections as Mr Sinha wanted that the party should promote the Rajbhar leaders of the party rather than going for an alliance with Bharatiya Samaj Party. Mr Sinha even advised the party to give ticket to one Rajbhar's candidate of the BJP from each district in eastern UP but the leadership rejected it. (UNI)