Uttar Pradesh minister calls off stir after chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s intervention

Cabinet Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar has announced to sit on the 'dharna' if the District Magistrate was not immediately transferred.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath (File | EPS)
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath (File | EPS)

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Om Prakash Rajbhar called off the stir he had threatened to launch from July 4 to press for the transfer of Ghazipur district magistrate following chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s intervention.

Earlier, Rajbhar had claimed that the Ghazipur DM, Sanjay Kumar Khatri, had not paid heed to some 19 issues raised by the former for early redressal.

Rajbhar is the president of BJP ally Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) and holds the portfolio of backward and handicapped welfare in the state government. SBSP has four MLAs in the UP Assembly.

Talking to The New Indian Express, Rajbhar said that he took the decision to shelve the protest after a 35-minute meeting with Adityanath here on Monday. Emerging from the meeting, Rajbhar told the media that the CM got 17 of his 19 issues resolved during the meeting. "The remaining two will be settled in the next two days," he added.

About his earlier demand of removing Ghazipur DM's removal, Rajbhar gave a guarded reply that everything would be settled in due course. "The stalemate has ended. I am satisfied with the CM's intervention and the issues stand resolved," said the minister, adding that he had no plan to put in his papers as he had confidence in the CM. “I am a part of the government and I will continue being so,” he said. This was a u-turn from his earlier stance when he had allegedly threatened to resign from his post and petition central BJP leadership if Adityanath failed to remove the DM.

On Sunday, Rajbhar had accused Khatri of not addressing his concerns. "On June 25, I met UP BJP organisation secretary Sunil Bansal and on June 27, I called on the chief minister to take up the matter. The DM is yet to be removed," Rajbhar had said. When asked whether he was angry with the government, Rajbhar had said: "We are accountable to the people who voted us to power. People are angry that their work is not getting done even after the cabinet minister's request.”

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