The Hindu : Other States / Uttar Pradesh News : Mulayam retains RLD Ministers

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Saturday, Jul 03, 2004

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Mulayam retains RLD Ministers

By Our Special Correspondent

LUCKNOW, JULY 2 . Resignations of 31 Uttar Pradesh Ministers were accepted by the Governor, Vishnu Kant Shastri, today on the advice of the Chief Minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Earlier, all the Ministers had handed over their resignation letters to Mr Yadav to facilitate downsizing of the Ministry to meet new constitutional requirements.

Among the Ministers dropped, two -- Reoti Raman Singh and Bhagawati Singh -- had Cabinet rank and the rest were Ministers of State. Mr Reoti Ram Singh has been elected to the Lok Sabha and Mr Bhagawati Singh to the Rajya Sabha.

All the seven Ministers belonging to the Rashtriya Lok Dal have been retained. Among them Anuradha Chaudhary has been elected to the Lok Sabha but continues to hold her ministerial office. The Rashtriya Lok Dal leadr, Ajit Singh, an ally of the ruling Samajwadi Party, has lately indicated to confront the State Government on public issues amid reports of his moving closer to the Congress. The Chief Minister's decision not to touch the RLD Ministers, while downsizing his Ministry was stated to be a deliberate move not to give RLD a chance to find fault with his dealings with Ajit Singh.

The size of the Ministry has now been reduced to 60 leaving scope for appointment of one more Minister. Sources suggested that the vacancy could be filled with the independent MLA, Raghuraj Pratap Singh "Raja Bhaiya" who had been detained under POTA by the Mayawati Government.

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Mulayam retains RLD Ministers