LUCKNOW: Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday sacked five cabinet ministers and three ministers of state from his council of ministers, and withdrew existing portfolios of 9 other ministers. This is first drastic shake up of the council of ministers since Akhilesh was sworn in as chief minister in March 2012, and is seen as a decision in line with the Samajwadi Party government’s poll preparations for the 2017 assembly elections. New portfolio allotment and swearing in of a fresh batch of ministers will be done on Saturday, October 31.

Among cabinet ministers shown the door after Akhilesh’s meeting with UP Governor Ram Naik on Wednesday, include stamp and registrations minister Mahendra Aridaman Singh, Ambika Chaudhary, who was serving as minister for backward and handicapped welfare, textile minister Shiv Kumar Beria, food and civil supplies minister Narad Rai and technical education minister Shivkant Ojha.

The ministers of state sacked by Akhilesh on Thursday include Alok Kumar Shakya (technical education), Yogesh Pratap Singh (basic education) and Bhagwat Sharan Gangwar (with independent charge of small and medium scale industries.

In addition to the sacked ministers, the CM has also reshuffled portfolios of nine cabinet ministers. Promient among those who have faced the shakeup include food and civil supplies minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya, health minister Ahmed Hasan, and basic education minister Ram Govind Chaudhary, who came out in support of a High Court decision making it mandatory for all government officers to send their wards to government primary schools to ensure better quality of education. Other ministers whose portfolios will be changed include Awadhesh Prasad, in charge of social welfare, horticulture and food processing minister Paras Nath Yadav, transport minister Durga Prasad Yadav, minister for Homeguards, Brahma Shankar Tripathi, fisheries and public enterprise bureau minister Iqbal Mahmood, and secondary education minister Mehboob Ali.

Psephologists have seen this move as chief minister Akhilesh Yadav’s attempt to take the reins of the government in his own hands through the cabinet reshuffle and send out a strong message before the 2017 assembly elections.

