Akhilesh Yadav sacks 8 ministers

The ministers who have been dropped from the Cabinet are Raja Mahendra Aridaman Singh (Stamp and Court Fees, Civil Defence, Registration), Ambika Chaudhary, (Backward Class Welfare, Handicapped Welfare), Shiv Kumar Beria (Textile and Sericulture Industries), Narad Rai (Khadi and Village Industries) and Shivkant Ojha (Technical Education).

MoS Alok Kumar Shakya (Technical Education), Yogesh Pratap Singh alias Yogesh Bhaiya (Basic Education) and Bhagwat Sharan Gangawar (MSME, Export Promotion) have also been dropped.

"On the recommendation of the Chief Minister, the Governor has removed five cabinet ministers and three MoS," a Raj Bhawan spokesman said.

New ministers will take oath on October 31, the spokesman said.

Besides, portfolios of nine ministers, including Health Minister Ahmad Hasan and controversial Food and Civil Supplies minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya, have been withdrawn.

Apart from them, the ministers from whom portfolios have been withdrawn are Awadhesh Prasad (Social Welfare, SC&ST Welfare, Sainik Welfare), Paras Nath Yadav (Horticulture and Food Processing), Ram Govind Chaudhary (Primary Education), Durga Prasad Yadav (Transport), Brahamshanker Tripathi (Homeguards, Prantiya Raksha Dal), Iqbal Mehmood (Fisheries, Public Enterprises) and Mehbood Ali (Secondary Education).

They will, however, continue in the ministry, official sources said, adding the ministers will be allocated portfolios later while the portfolios of the dropped ministers will remain with the chief minister.

Ambika Chaudhary, an MLC, is considered close to SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and wields considerable influence in eastern UP.

Yadav had earlier hinted at expansion of his council of ministers after the Bihar assembly elections scheduled to end on November 5.

"Let the elections in Bihar be over," he had said replying to a question about the reshuffle of his ministry.

Uttar Pradesh can have a maximum number of 60 ministers.