UP: Resignations of 5 Cabinet Ministers accepted

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh): Ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet expansion on Wednesday, the resignation of five Cabinet Ministers – Rajesh Agarwal, Swatantra Dev Singh, Archana Pandey, Anupama Jaiswal and Dharampal Singh – have been accepted.

Agarwal, who was the Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister, announced his resignation on Tuesday. “Now I have turned 75-years-old and as per the policy of my party, I have submitted my resignation to the party leadership two days ago,” he said.

Swatantra Dev Singh was the Transport Minister in the Yogi Adityanath-led state Cabinet.

Speculations regarding the Cabinet expansion started after Adityanath along with state unit party president Swatantra Dev Singh met BJP national president Amit Shah and party’s working president J P Nadda last week.

Among the names which are doing rounds for inclusion in the Cabinet are MLC Vijay Bahadur Pathak, Ashok Katariya, and Pankaj Singh.

It is also being speculated that Ministers of State (MoS) Suresh Rana and Anupama Jaiswal might be promoted.