Zee Media Bureau
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday expanded his ministry and re-inducted controversial leader Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya as a minister.
Raja Bhaiya was sworn-in by Governor BL Joshi at Raj Bhawan in the presence of SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and senior Cabinet minister Mohd Azam Khan.
He would be allocated a ministry later.
Condemning Raja Bhaiya`s re-induction, Congress spokesman Akhilesh Pratap Singh said that the Uttar Pradesh government is directionless, and should not just change the Cabinet but also the way of governance.
Meanwhile, BJP MP from Gorakhpur Yogi Adityanath said that if people like Shivpal Yadav and Azam Khan could be ministers in the Uttar Pradesh government, why can`t Raja Bhaiya. Nothing more is expected from this government, added Adityanath.
Raja Bhaiya, an Independent legislator from Kunda in Pratapgarh district, had resigned as food and civil supplies minister seven months ago after his name was surfaced in an FIR on the murder of police officer Zia-ul-Haq.
Haq, a deputy superintendent of police posted as Kunda circle officer, was killed by a mob, which his widow Parveen Azad alleged, acted at Raja Bhaiya`s behest.
The killing evoked a national outage and embarrassed the state government.
However, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) a month back gave Raja Bhaiya a clean chit in the case.
There are a total of 59 ministers in the Cabinet and the
upper limit is of 60 ministers.
At present, there are 22 Cabinet ministers including the CM, six state ministers with independent charges and 31 state ministers.
Sources said a new face from Western UP could also be given place in the Cabinet as part of "damage control" after Muzaffarnagar riots.
This is the fourth expansion in the Akhilesh Yadav ministry in a span of 19 months.
(With Agency inputs)
