NDA MLAs on edge, Yogi Adityanath takes steps to remove friction with officials

Indian Express

4 days ago

WITH several ministers in his government as well as ruling BJP MPs and MLAs going vocal about lack of cooperation from officials in their regions, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has taken matters in his own hands.
On Friday, The Indian Express reported Energy Minister A K Sharma's outbursts against his department's employees, who have been holding protests over plans to privatise power distribution in the state and seeking his removal.
On Sunday July 27, Adityanath held a development review of Kanpur, Chitrakoot and Jhansi divisions at his official residence, where MPs and MLAs of the area as well as officials were present. The message was that the officials should keep public representatives in the loop on development projects and schemes in their regions.
A similar meeting was held for the Lucknow division on July 30, with such 'Mandalwar Samwad' planned for regions across the state in the coming days.
Sources say that while friction between legislators and officials in the state has been building for about two years – since the BJP returned to power, and Adityanath became CM again – voices are growing now because of the forthcoming panchayat elections, followed by the Assembly polls in 2027.
Pointing to 'all-powerful' officials under the Adityanath government, a BJP MLA said: 'They act on whim, without regard to public representatives or protocol. We are answerable to the public, but we often find ourselves helpless when we take up their issues, such as road repairs, electricity connection restoration, or land records correction. When we approach senior leaders or ministers, they also throw up their hands.'
The MLA added that they were waiting to see the results of the exercise started by the CM to get public representatives and officials together.
Ministers have complained about being equally helpless before officials of their department. In a post on his office's X account, Energy Minister A K Sharma recently wrote: 'Officers have completely stopped answering phones. The situation was already bad, and now it has worsened.' He uploaded an audio clip of a conversation between a power consumer and an official of his department to make his point.
Last week, Minister of State for Women and Child Welfare Pratibha Shukla staged a sit-in against Kanpur Police, alleging that her supporters were being 'targeted' unfairly. Shukla is an MLA from Akbarpur-Rania in Kanpur Dehat.
Before that, the contents of a letter by Minister for Infrastructure and Industries Nand Gopal Gupta 'Nandi' to the CM had gone viral, where he accused officials in his department of not following directives 'for over two years', as well as acting arbitrarily and showing preferential treatment to some.
Sources told The Indian Express that Nandi wrote the letter after failing to get a response on several complaints made by him against officials, or seeing any action against them.
Before Nandi, Technical Education Minister Ashish Patel, who belongs to NDA ally Apna Dal (S), alleged at a party meeting that officials in his department were using government funds to defame the Apna Dal (S).
Officials, for their part, talk of undue pressure from public representatives. A member of the Secretariat employees' union told The Indian Express: 'Soon after he took charge, the CM publicly told officials to not be afraid of anything and to work without pressure… Over time, it has become a problem for public representatives who have been used to getting their work done… At the same time, officials too need to be respected… There has to be a balance from both sides, and the CM is trying to ensure this now.'
At the meetings held recently by Adityanath, the CM urged the NDA MPs and MLAs to share their concerns and suggest projects that they felt were significant for their constituencies, and told the officers to prepare a report on the suggestions made.
One point stressed by Adityanath was that the names of local representatives be prominently displayed on foundation or inauguration plaques set up for projects. The CM said that the MPs and MLAs should then act as watchdogs of these government schemes and monitor them.
A senior official present at one of these meetings said: 'The CM took feedback from MLAs and MPs on the situation in their constituencies, as well as the administrative coordination and public expectations.'
Among the projects proposed by MLAs were those dealing with road connectivity, logistics hubs, approach roads to religious places, and irrigation.
An MLA who attended the July 27 meeting said: 'Instructions were given by the CM on the spot depending on issues raised by the public representatives. It is a healthy exercise… We hope things will change on the ground as well.'
At the end of Sunday's meeting, Rs 4,901 crore worth of projects were finalised for the Jhansi division, Rs 3,875 crore worth of projects for Chitrakoot division, and about Rs 10,914 crore worth of projects for Kanpur.
MoS Pratibha Shukla, who protested against police in her area recently, said things were taking a turn. 'Yogi ji has sorted things,' she told The Indian Express. 'He listened to us and also instructed officials to listen to our grievances. Both the DM and SDM of our district have been changed… We are hopeful things will change on the ground too.'