New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs in Uttar Pradesh seem to have taken it upon themselves to discipline ‘errant’ government officials, warning them of “dire consequences”, and threatening to “break their arms and legs” and hit them “with a shoe”. Video clips of these threats by legislators are doing the rounds on social media.
This comes at a time when Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is in firefighting mode, following the Lok Sabha setback to the ruling party in the the state, with a drop in its tally to 33 seats from 62 in 2019. Non-cooperation from government officials was cited as one of the reasons for the BJP’s below-par performance in UP in a report prepared by a party task force.
The chief minister had been facing pressure from the BJP cadre and top leadership, along with jibes by Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, who reminded him repeatedly that sangathan (party organisation) is bigger than sarkar (government).
Ahead of bypolls on 10 assembly seats, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has sought to mollify the angry party legislators, holding regular meetings with them. With his deputy, Keshav Prasad Maurya, training his guns at him, and the party high command reportedly upset with the results, BJP legislators seem to have become emboldened enough to target government officials.
In several instances over the past two months, BJP MLAs publicly pulled up government officials citing various reasons, ranging from allegations of corruption, resorting to bulldozer action, failure to address civic issues, or refusal to cooperate with party workers. The chief minister has maintained a studied silence though.
Earlier this week, in a village in Mirzapur district, BJP MLA Ratnakar Mishra was taking part in Krishna Janmashtami festivities, when villagers complained to him about a revenue officer, who they alleged had been demanding money and other favours from them. After he heard an audio clip of the officer allegedly demanding bribes, the MLA called up the sub-divisional magistrate, and urged her to take strict action against the officer, warning that he would take matters into his own hands and “break his arms and legs” otherwise.
Mishra told ThePrint, “We can’t allow these officers, who are not concerned about people’s problems and only want to make money, to go on like this. It hurts the government’s image.”
In another such instance, on 6 August, Khurja MLA Meenakshi Singh threatened to hit government officials “with a shoe” during a drive to demolish a temple structure in a housing society. Singh directed the officials to apologise to the residents and reprimanded them for trying to “defame the Yogi government”.
She told ThePrint, “How can a temple be demolished under the reign of our (BJP) government? After I protested, senior magistrate listened to my viewpoint and promised to take action against these officials. In the two months since the election, the attitude of government officials has been changing as they are being held accountable to the public.”
In a video clip from Bareilly district, BJP MLA Sanjeev Agarwal was seen engaging in a verbal spat last week with the local station house officer (SHO), who was asking the MLA’s supporters at a protest held by BJP workers to stay behind a certain point. The MLA warned the police officer of dire consequences if he did not “lower his eye”.
Civil servants, current and former, ThePrint spoke to insisted that officers are not supposed to favour a political party and that decorum must be maintained in public.
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BJP tries to defuse anger among workers
According to BJP sources quoting the party’s fact-finding team, the Yogi Adityanath-led government’s free hand to the “untamed” bureaucracy in matters of law and order and the resultant corruption, coupled with the “unchecked” powers of civil servants, brought down the morale of BJP workers in the run-up to the general election that concluded on 4 June.
Keeping the Lok Sabha setback, this year’s assembly bypolls and the 2027 assembly elections in mind, BJP top brass and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) had pressed Yogi to make amends. He has since transferred multiple district magistrates and police officers, who were posted in constituencies the BJP lost in the Lok Sabha polls.
“In most meetings with the organisation and RSS leaders, the issue of unchecked bureaucracy has been raised and the workers’ anger reflects. It is essential to control it before the bypolls and assembly elections in 2027,” a senior BJP leader told ThePrint.
“Workers are the party’s asset. No party can win elections without their support. It is important to boost the morale of BJP workers and keep a check on corrupt officials who want to defame the government. The workers have been told to identify such officials.”
BJP sources said that when the MLAs reported the issue to the chief minister after the Lok Sabha elections, he asked them to report and send evidence against “erring” officials who refused to listen to them, and recommend their transfers.
Mirzapur MLA Mishra alleged that officers from certain caste groups were promoted during the rule of Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), and those who are part of the administration are now trying to “dent the image” of the Yogi government.
“Not every officer is corrupt or not helping people. But there are a bunch of such officers in every district, who need to be identified,” he said.
Shashi Kant Pandey, professor of Political Science at Lucknow’s Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, told ThePrint, “MLAs are frustrated as they are answerable to the public and elections are approaching. The government is also under pressure after the Lok Sabha result. Thus, they want accountability. It is necessary for BJP to boost the morale of party workers. Parties win elections due to their cadre. Yogi knows it better.”
‘Decorum must be maintained’
Former coal secretary and retired Indian Administrative Service officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, Anil Swaroop said civil servants are not supposed to favour any political party.
Referring to the ongoing friction between BJP legislators and the bureaucrats, he told ThePrint, “In the past, too, such incidents have occurred. The accountability of bureaucrats is fixed. Fine balance should be maintained and such incidents should not take place.”
However, a civil servant currently serving in the Uttar Pradesh administration, on condition of anonymity, said public admonishment can hurt the morale of honest officers.
“There are a handful of people in every profession, who do not adhere to ethics and probity. But such incidents cannot be the brand for the entire cadre. Sometimes, political leaders’ anger reflects in their responses, but decorum should be maintained for smooth operations,” he said.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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