Deepak Singhal removed as UP Chief Secretary, senior IAS officer Rahul Bhatnagar takes over

Lucknow: A day after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav sacked two two ministers on charges of corruption, state Chief Secretary Deepak Singhal was on Tuesday removed from his post. 

Senior IAS officer Rahul Bhatnagar, an UP-cadre IAS officer of 1983 batch, has been appointed as the new state Chief Secretary.

"Singhal has been removed and put on wait list. Principal Secretary (Finance) Rahul Bhatnagar has been made new Chief Secretary," an official spokesman said here.

Singhal, a 1982-batch IAS officer, was working as a Principal Secretary Irrigation when he took charge as the Chief Secretay of the state in June this year. He was earlier Principal Secretary (Irrigation), a department held by Shivpal.

Informed sources said while Singhal had endeared himself to Chief Minister Akhilesh, he invited his ire after he attended a dinner thrown by Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh in New Delhi on Saturday, which CM Akhilesh gave a miss. 

Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and some other top party leaders were also present at the dinner hosted by Singh.

The removal of Singhal comes hours after Principal Secretary (Mining) Gurdeep Singh was transferred to Food and Civil Supplies department replacing Sudhir Garg, who was made Principal Secretary (Mining). The CBI is probing allegations of corruption in the mining department on the direction of the Allahabad High Court.

The development, many feels, could trigger a storm of sorts as Singhal was considered close to PWD Minister Shivpal Singh Yadav and Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Yesterday, state Mining minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati and Panchayati Raj Minister Raj Kishore Singh, both accused of corruption were fired by the Uttar Pradesh government. 

While Prajapati faces charges of kickbacks in mining contracts and extortion, Kishore has been accused of land-grabbing.