Akhilesh Yadav Questions BJP's UP Cabinet Expansion Over Defectors And Allies

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party over the impending expansion of the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet, questioning how the ruling party would manage defectors, dissatisfied lawmakers and its alliance partners.

According to PTI, Yadav raised several points in a post on X as the Yogi Adityanath government prepared to carry out the Cabinet expansion later in the day. He asked whether all leaders who had defected from other parties to join the BJP would receive ministerial posts, given that only six vacancies exist in the state Cabinet.

"People are asking that there are only six vacancies in the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet, while the number of leaders who switched sides from other parties is much higher. Will all of them be rewarded with ministerial positions?" Yadav said in the post.

PTI reported that the Samajwadi Party chief also questioned the basis for selection if only a few legislators from a particular community were picked for ministerial roles. "If one MLA is chosen from among several legislators belonging to a community, what will be the basis of that selection?" he asked.

He expressed concern about resentment among those who might be left out. "What will happen to the remaining turncoats? Will their neglect and humiliation be pacified through some compromise, or will they also realise that the BJP belongs to no one?" he said.

Yadav added that leaders excluded from the expansion would feel "cheated" and would find it difficult to face voters in their areas. "Will those left out not feel betrayed? Will they be able to show their faces in their constituencies?" he asked.

Targeting long-waiting BJP legislators, he remarked, "What about the BJP's own people who have been drying up like thorns while waiting to become ministers?"

The former chief minister also queried whether taking away portfolios from sitting ministers would signal their failure. "If departments are taken away from current ministers, will that not send a message that they were unsuccessful and therefore, stripped of their ministries? Such ministers may lose elections without even fighting," he said.

According to PTI, Yadav further asked whether the BJP's allies would secure real representation or remain sidelined. "Will alliance partners get something more than mere assurances, or will they be ignored with the message - tum the jinke sahare, wo hue na tumhare (those whom you depended on, never truly belonged to you)," he said, quoting lines from a Hindi song.

He argued that the final nine months before the next elections would not alter public views on the government's record. "The public is also asking what these ministers can achieve in the last nine months when the government could not deliver anything in nine years," he said.

Yadav accused the BJP government of delivering only corruption, atrocities, attacks on PDA (Picchde, Dalit, Alpsankhyak), and the burdens of inflation and unemployment.

(With inputs from PTI)