UP Minister Dinesh Khatik Resigns, Says Officials Kept Him In The Dark
Mumbai: Dinesh Khatik, Minister of State for Jal Shakti in the UP government, has offered his resignation saying department officials didn’t listen to him or share information about his ministry.
Khatik, a two-time MLA, was inducted as the Minister of State (MoS) for Jal Shakti by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in September last year.
However, a copy of his resignation letter on social media was addressed to Union Home Minister Amit Shah instead of the Chief Minister, a move that is being interpreted to imply that he may be open to the party persuading him not to press the matter.
Along with OBCs, Dalits have been the mainstay of the BJP’s massive victory in UP.
Khatik’s letter did not directly target Jal Shakti Minister Swatantra Dev Singh, but the bureaucracy, to which he referred to, thought the MoS needed nothing more than an official car.
In his letter, which repeatedly mentioned the fact that he was a Dalit, Khatik said he was not kept in the loop by the authorities in matters relating to the ministry, or invited to any departmental meeting.
The minister cited an instance where he sought information on transfers in the department after receiving complaints of irregularities and corruption on July 9, but did not get any response despite talking to the government and top officials of the department.
“Keeping chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s zero tolerance to corruption in mind, on July 9 I sought details about the transfers made in the department in 2022-23 but I that too wasn’t provided to me,” Khatik said in his letter.
“When I sought clarification, my phone was bluntly disconnected midway through the conversation and this is a big insult of an elected public representative,” Khatik’s letter said, accusing the top official in the irrigation department of insulting him and Dalits. He also alleged that there was widespread corruption in the Namami Gange scheme and in departmental transfers and postings. “My charges can be independently investigated by any agency,” he said.
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