Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary resigns as Uttar Pradesh minister

LUCKNOW: Panchayati Raj minister Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary resigned from the post on Tuesday, a day after taking over the charge as the new Uttar Pradesh BJP chief.
Chaudhary tendered his resignation just before the meeting of the state cabinet headed by chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

"Resigned from the cabinet to discharge the responsibility of the UP BJP unit president. Heartfelt thanks to PM Narendra Modi for his inspirational guidance and CM Yogi Adityanath for giving me instructions," Chaudhary tweeted.
Chaudhary, who served as panchayati raj state minister (independent charge) during Yogi-1.0 government, was elevated as the cabinet minister after the BJP came back to power in 2022 assembly elections.

Though the state government was yet to formally allocate the panchayati raj portfolio to any party leader, speculations started whirling that deputy CM Keshav Maurya may be handed over the charge. Party sources said that the panchayati raj department draws a close resemblance with the rural development department already handled by Maurya.

This could lend a further fillip to Maurya who has been attempting to strike the right chord to elevate his stature. Despite facing an electoral loss in Sirathu in the 2022 UP polls, Maurya managed to become deputy CM. A fortnight ago, Maurya replaced former UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh as the leader of the house in the legislative council.
While the UP government officials refused to comment saying that the final call will be taken by CM Yogi Adityanath, sources close to Maurya point towards recommendations of Niti Aayog suggesting amalgamation of departments of similar nature. The ministry for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj at the Centre is already headed by senior BJP leader and Begusarai (Bihar) MP Giriraj Singh.
"The state government too can follow suit," said a senior BJP leader. Moreover, senior bureaucrat Manoj Singh holds the dual charge of rural development as well as panchayati raj as their additional chief secretary. Significantly, Singh is also agriculture production commissioner (APC).