Cabinet expansion for 'time pass', CM has become 'Courier Messenger' under BJP: Akhilesh

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday took a swipe at the expansion of the Yogi Adityanath government, dismissing it as a mere exercise to ''pass the time'' and claiming that the chief minister's role under the BJP's rule has been reduced to a ''Courier Messenger''. In a post on X, Yadav said, ''Samay bitaane ke liye karnaa hai kuch kaam (Need to do something to pass the time).'' ''In any case, he has no role to play in the cabinet expansion. A chit will come from over there, and here it will just be read out,'' he said in the post in Hindi. Taking a jibe at the chief minister, the SP president said that under the BJP's rule, ''CM'' has effectively come to mean ''Courier Messenger''. ''Meanwhile, the public is asking whether you'll watch the film sitting in the front row or from the back? The public's request is that you watch the film carefully... it might just lead to some awakening by understanding the principle of 'Karmaphal-Kansaphal,' and perhaps even some positive change,'' he said in the post. ''We believe that fundamentally, it is not the individual who is evil, but rather their greed is evil. Evil makes a person even worse. Conversely, when an individual sets aside self-interest and embarks upon the path of selfless service, a positive transformation can occur, and they can prove to be a meaningful asset to humanity,'' Yadav said. The remarks came after the second expansion of the Yogi Adityanath 2.0 ministry, in which two cabinet ministers and four ministers of state were inducted into the Uttar Pradesh government, while two ministers of state were elevated to independent charge. The expansion assumes significance as it comes ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections scheduled early next year. At the swearing-in ceremony held at Jan Bhavan, former BJP state president Bhupendra Chaudhary and SP rebel Manoj Pandey were inducted as cabinet ministers. Ministers of state Ajit Pal Singh and Somendra Tomar were promoted as ministers of state with independent charge. Four new ministers of state -- Krishna Paswan, Surendra Diler, Hansraj Vishwakarma and Kailash Rajput -- also took oath. Anandiben Patel administered the oath to the newly inducted ministers. This is the second expansion of the Yogi 2.0 ministry after the first reshuffle in March 2024, nearly two years after the government was formed. In a separate statement issued by the party, Yadav alleged widespread corruption in the BJP government, claiming that water tanks constructed under the Jal Jeevan Mission were collapsing because they could not withstand the ''weight of BJP corruption''. He also alleged that the health and education sectors had been ruined due to rampant commission-seeking and profiteering. The SP chief further accused the BJP government of using ''smart meters'' to siphon money directly from the pockets of the state's electricity consumers and funnelling it into the pockets of industrialists. The BJP is looting the people of Uttar Pradesh from all sides, he added. Yadav also claimed that the BJP is committing a scam regarding reservation in government jobs and is snatching the rights. He added that the BJP was rattled by the Samajwadi Party's PDA (Pichde, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) strategy. ''The PDA community is understanding the BJP's moves. A united PDA will defeat every conspiracy and plot hatched by the BJP.'' ''Once the SP forms the government, the PDA community will receive their due rights, dignity, and justice. The state will witness comprehensive development, the poor will receive free medical treatment, and the education of girls from KG to PG will be made completely free of cost,'' the former chief minister said in the statement.

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