UP ministers vs civil servants saga: Fresh flashpoint as 8th Yogi minister speaks out in viral letter
Nandi is the eighth minister in the state to have raised questions on the officials in his own government in the second tenure of Yogi Adityanath. Before him, Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak, Cabinet minister Ashish Patel, Sanjay Nishad, MoS (Independent) Dinesh Pratap Singh, Jaiveer Singh, MoS Dinesh Khatik and MoS Pratibha Shukla also raised questions on government officials on different occasions.
Lucknow: The ongoing rift between Uttar Pradesh ministers and the bureaucracy shows no signs of easing. In the latest development, a letter written to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath by Industrial Development Minister Nand Gopal Nandi has gone viral. He has made serious allegations against officials, accusing them of ignoring government policies, negligence, disobeying ministerial directives, and extending undue benefits to select individuals.
The minister also flagged several cases of alleged irregularities, for which high level probes have now been ordered. He mentioned that a list of such controversial cases was sent to the CM's office in October 2024. Although instructions were issued on 29 October 2024 to submit all pending files within a week, the files were not submitted even after six months. He further highlighted a three-year-old directive to decentralise departmental work that was never implemented due to the disappearance of the file.
The minister's office told ThePrint that he did not want to talk about the issue.
Also read: Whistle-blowers or party snipers? UP ministers' 'letter bombs' leaving Yogi govt red-faced
8th minister to raise questions on officials
On 5 July, UP cabinet minister Ashish Patel accused the state government's information department of trying to destabilise his party Apna Dal (Soneylal) by 'pressuring' a section of the media to run false and misleading stories about dissension in the party. Though Ashish did not write any letter, he posted on social media. However, he had earlier written to the CM on the alleged negligence of department officials.
In February, Pratibha Shukla, Minister of State for Women Welfare, Child Development and Nutrition wrote to the Director, Integrated child development scheme (ICDS) on the alleged corruption and irregularities in her department. She has openly accused the district programme officers (DPO) and the employees in her office of irregularities in recruitment. Citing various official tours in her letter, the minister wrote that whichever district she visited, she received a lot of complaints of corruption in recruitment.
Before Shukla, Cabinet minister & BJP ally Sanjay Nishad also raised questions on state officials on many occasions. In one of his statements in June he said, 'Officials do not listen to ministers. They are answerable to us and we are answerable to the public.' He also added, 'There are a few officers in the state cabinet who are politically inclined towards the Samajwadi party and the Bahujan Samajwadi party but pretend to support the BJP. They give wrong feedback to the high command,' he said.
These letters and statements also gave the Opposition a chance to target the Yogi government. SP spokesperson Pooja Shukla remarked that the tussle between ministers and civil servants in the Yogi government has become a routine affair. 'Such incidents are reported almost every other day. It's now evident that even the ministers are unhappy with the Chief Minister. That's why their letters keep surfacing publicly. Scams are unfolding in every department, and the Chief Minister appears unaware. So much for the so-called double engine government,' she said while speaking to ThePrint.
Why it is happening again?
Analysts say, Industrial Development Minister Nand Gopal Nandi's accusations signal a pattern of discord within the state's administrative framework. This growing friction between the ministers and the bureaucratic machinery has sparked a debate over accountability and the balance of power in the functioning of the state government.
As per senior functionaries in the UP BJP, there are several instances of tussles between state ministers and civil servants in the past three years. It all started with a letter from deputy CM Brajesh Pathak in July 2022 to the then Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Medical and Health, Amit Mohan Prasad, expressing his displeasure over the transfers of doctors in the department. The transfers took place when the deputy CM was not present in the state.
Since then, several ministers have opted to write letters against officials, which have gone viral on social media. On condition of anonymity, one minister in the Yogi Cabinet told ThePrint, 'It is an open secret now that officials are running the system. All transfers, postings and tenders happen without the minister's consent. We have very little say. As of now, no minister can say that he has a direct access to the CMO except one or two. For minor things, we (have to) take approval from the CMO or top officials. It increases everyone's frustration. Sometimes it results in a viral letter,' he said.
According to S.K. Dwivedi, UP-based political analyst and a retired professor of the University of Lucknow, 'The UP government should focus on solving these issues. Brand Yogi is strong undoubtedly, but these issues which look small could become big before the 2027 elections. The 'dissatisfaction' factor should not be mentioned in ministers' statements and letters. These things create a wrong perception about the government.'
When ThePrint contacted UP BJP chief Bhupendra Chaudhary, he said that he was not aware of this development. 'It is the government's internal issue. It has nothing to do with the state organisation,' he said.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
Also read: Why two UP ministers, BJP MLA are accusing Yogi govt officials of sabotage, persecution
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