Akhilesh takes dig at ‘double engine’ govt

In an apparent reference to retired IAS officer-turned-MLC AK Sharma, who is overseeing Covid relief in Varanasi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav accused the BJP of ‘imposing’ an officer on the Yogi government and targeted the Centre saying that it directed a senior officer from West Bengal to appear in Delhi against the wishes of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Terming the BJP’s policy intriguing, Akhilesh tweeted in Hindi, “Imposing an officer sent from Delhi on Uttar Pradesh against the Chief Minister’s (Yogi Adityanath) will and in West Bengal, calling an officer to Delhi against the wishes of the CM. In Uttar Pradesh, tussle continues among those who made false promises of the ‘double engine’ government in the state.”

A native of UP and a retired IAS officer of Gujarat cadre, Sharma had closely worked with Narendra Modi when he was Chief Minister of Gujarat and the officer later moved to Delhi when Modi became Prime Minister in 2014. After working with the Prime Minister, Sharma voluntarily retired as Secretary of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and joined the BJP in January. Soon after, the retired 1988-batch IAS officer was made a BJP MLC in Uttar Pradesh and there have been reports that the central leadership wants to elevate him. Sharma (58) is, at present, overseeing Covid relief work in Varanasi and in Western UP.