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Maya takes charge Lucknow, May 13 In a modest ceremony on the lawns of the Raj Bhavan, Mayawati — the architect of this new social coalition that has given a single-party government to the state after more than one and a half decades — assumed office of the Chief Minister for the fourth time. Besides her, 19 cabinet ministers, 21 ministers of state (independent charge) and nine ministers of state were also administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor T.V. Rajeshwar. Wearing a lotus pink salwar-kameez, Mayawati accompanied by her trusted lieutenant national general secretary S.C. Mishra arrived at the ceremony led by the Governor. Close confidante Mishra, who helped Mayawati rope in the Brahmins, was the only leader occupying the dais along with her during the ceremony. Of the three men who came in for special praise by her on Friday during her first interaction with the Press, Mishra remained the only one not been inducted into the government. The other two - Naseemuddin Siddiqui and Babu Singh Kushwaha - have been given cabinet berths. One of the onlookers occupying the front rows of the ‘pandal’ was her main political opponent and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. The outgoing Chief Minister attended the swearing-in ceremony along with the outgoing UP Vidhan Sabha speaker Mata Prasad Pandey. UPCC President Salman Khurshid along with his wife Louise Khurshid
also attended the function. No BJP leader was visible anywhere. The Raj Bhavan complex was virtually taken over by the newly elected MLAs who had come accompanied by their supporters. The usually impregnable majestic Governor’s residence saw large crowds of ordinary people marching to the lawns to be a witness to the moment. Among those who had come to share in Mayawati’s moment of glory were Mayawati’s father Prabhu Das, a retired senior clerk from the P&T department and her homemaker mother Ramrati. Mayawati’s siblings along with their spouses and children also attended the function. Besides the Chief Minister, the Council of Ministers has two other women members. While Omvati, MLA from Nagina in Bijnore, was sworn in as minister of state with independent charge, Vidya Chaudhury from Mehnagar in Azamgarh was administered the oath of office and secrecy as minister of state. Milkipur MLA Anand Sen Yadav, who contested the election from jail, was also sworn in as a minister with independent charge. Mayawati’s Council of Minister includes seven Brahmins and five Muslims. Those inducted in the cabinet include Naseemuddin Siddique, Sudhir Goyal , Ramvir Upadhayaye, Lalji Verma, Indrajit Saroj, Sukhdev Rajbhar, Thakur Jaiveer Singh, Swami Prasad Maurya, Vedram Bhatti and Lakshmi Narain. Others are Rakesh Dhar Tripathi, B.S. Kushwaha, Jai Narain Rai, Babu Chouhan, Nakul Dubey, Daddu Prasad, Narain Singh, Ram Prasad Choudhary and Dharam Singh Saini. Mayawati, who has the honour of being the first Dalit Chief Minister in India, was first sworn in on June 3, 1995, for a four-month term. She next assumed office on March 21, 1997 for another brief six-month period. The third time she remained in office from May 3, 2002 to August 26, 2003. Today, she assumed office for the fourth time, a record she shares with four-time Chief Minister and Congress leader N.D. Tiwari. Among the ministers who were sworn in today, Siddiqui is the BSP national secretary, Lalji Verma is Uttar Pradesh party chief and Sudhir Goyal is the party’s chief media spokesperson. Former BSP legislative party leader Swami Prasad Maurya, who lost from Dalmau has also been given a cabinet berth. Mayawati, who did not contest the assembly election, as she wanted to focus on the entire state, is a sitting member of the Rajya Sabha. She will most likely context from Harora, as she has to become a member of either house within six months from the date of her swearing in. Yesterday, Governor Rajeswar had invited her to form the government after BSP legislators elected her as their leader in the 403-member assembly. Her party has won 206 seats out of 402 constituencies that went to
polls. Spells out priorities Lucknow, May 13 Addressing the media in the imposing Tilak Hall of the secretariat, Mayawati accompanied once again with S.C. Mishra read out a two and a half page press statement in which she issued a stern warning to anti-social elements, who she said had thrived under the previous regime. “All criminals will be sent behind bars, which is where they deserve to be,” she quipped. She announced a string of decisions, including a special campaign against the criminals, withdrawal of security to persons of criminal background, review of cases of injustice during the previous regime and severe punishment to those responsible for it. Reiterating her government’s vision, she said she was committed to giving a government that would ensure rule of law and usher in a regime free from injustice, fear and corruption and focused on development. She also announced the cancellation of all decisions taken by the previous government after the announcement of poll in February. She made no bones about her intention to review all “anti-people decisions” of the outgoing government. “Whatever the SP government did against the larger public interest anywhere in the state would be inquired into and anyone found guilty of committing irregularities would not be spared at any cost,” she declared. Answering a question, she summarily announced the disbanding of the SP government’s elitist UP Development Council, headed by Amar Singh and having Anil Ambani, Amitabh Bachchan and a host of other leading businessmen as its members. “We will chalk out our own industrial development plans. This so-called development council ceases to exist from today,” she said ringing alarm bells for Mulayam’s inner coterie. Indirectly hitting out at Yadav’s pet unemployment allowance project, the Chief Minister said her government was committed to providing employment for all castes. Promising justice to ‘all those who did not get a fair deal under the Mulayam regime’, she asserted that her government would not allow any kind of communal tension to prevail in the state. Giving a warning to the bureaucracy, she said: “Officials found guilty of inefficiency or dishonesty will not be just transferred or shifted, but they will be severely punished.”
Maya’s wrath: 3 officials suspended Lucknow, May 13 The vice-chairman of Lucknow Development Authority B.B. Singh, former Principal Secretary, PWD, S.K. Agarwal, Lucknow Development Authority chief engineer D.R. Yadav were put under suspension after Mayawati undertook a visit to the park this evening. She also ordered an inquiry against retired chief engineer of Rajkiya Nirman Nigam R.S. Yadav for “utter neglect” of the park which she said symbolised BSP ideology. Mayawati told reporters at the park that post-retirement benefits being given to Yadav would be reviewed. Mayawati expressed serious resentment at the poor condition of the walls and floors of the park, the dirt there and the broken tiles. She said her party never showed disrespect to great people. Meanwhile, the newly elected Mayawati-led government today effected a major police shake up by transferring 100 cops. including 71 IPS officials. — PTI
100 UP cops transferred
Lucknow, May 13 The other transferred included DIGs and provincial police services
(PPS) officers. — UNI
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