LUCKNOW: On a day when CM Yogi Adityanath’s axe of action fell over a number of senior officials, including two DMs, over corruption charges, his own office was put in spot when a confidential letter
forwarded to him by the state Governor seeking inquiry and action against a principal secretary in his office got leaked on Thursday.
The Governor’s letter, however, pertained to bribery charges against senior IAS officer SP Goel who holds the post of Principal Secretary in CMO.
However, highly placed sources in the administration blame it on the long drawn cadre war among the IAS officers themselves and called it the handiwork of anti-Goel lobby.
Undoubtedly, Governor’s letter for inquiry and action against SP Goel, principal secretary to the CM, will bring the CMO on opposition’s focus.
However, as er the Raj Bhawan sources, it was routine affair as the Governor keeps on receiving public complaints and forwarding them to authorities concerned for action.
It may be recalled that a similar cadre war had broken during Mulayam Singh Yadav’s regime with a lady IAs officer in focus, It had left both the then CM and the lady officer red-faced. Then also an
anonymous letter had cropped up causing embarrassment to Mulayam's administration.
In the present case, Abhishek Gupta, complainant through an email, dated April 18, 2018, addressed to State Governor Ram Naik informed him that he (Gupta) was allotted a petrol pump by a
private company in Raison village in Sandila block in Hardoi district and he was facing problem in setting up the pump as the distance between the petrol pump and the road passing along it was not enough to fulfil the norms of the company.
In his complain , Abhishek Gupta, a Lucknow resident, shared that in that connection he met Principal Secretary Goel urging him to allot him more land so that he could start the petrol pump.
“But Goel demanded Rs 25 lakh. As I have not been able to give it to him, the issue is still pending with his office,” wrote Gupta.
Consequently, taking a strong note of the issue, Governor Ram Naik forwarded the complain to the CM seeking action in this regard.
The complaint, however, was forwarded to the CM on April 30 but the letter somehow leaked on Thursday, nearly after 40 days, reportedly by a group of officers who are eying the plum post in CMO.
While the Governor house sources confirm the letter forwarded to the CM, some highly placed sources in the administration attributed the leakage of the letter to an ongoing cadre war which escalated in this form.
The tussle is believed to have peaked now as some officers are lobbying to get key positions in the wake of a major bureaucratic reshuffle round the corner in the state.
In fact, Chief Secretary Rajive Kumar is set to retire this month end and APC RP Singh having already opted for VRS, the government is busy preparing for a major reshuffle in the days to come. However,
Principal Secretary SP Goel was incommunicado and he could not contacted despite repeated efforts.