A day after sending a letter to Home Minister Amit Shah offering to resign from the Uttar Pradesh government on charges of caste discrimination he experienced from within his Jal Shakti department, Uttar Pradesh Minister of State for Water Resources Dinesh Khatik struck a different note on Thursday after meeting with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. He said the Chief Minister had “listened to his grievances and the issues have been resolved.”
In his letter to Mr. Shah, the Minister of State had also alleged corruption in the transfers made in the Uttar Pradesh Jal Shakti Department.
Speaking to the media, the Dalit face of the BJP in western Uttar Pradesh, described Mr. Adityanath as an honest Chief Minister, who had shown zero tolerance towards corruption. Mr. Khatik held certain officials responsible for his decision to step down on Wednesday.
Swatantra Dev Singh, the Cabinet minister of the Jal Shakti Department and president of the State unit of the BJP, was also present during the meeting with Mr. Adityanath. Earlier, speaking to reporters, Mr. Singh had said that he was in touch with Mr. Khatik on a daily basis and that the issues would be resolved.
In a letter addressed to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Mr. Khatik alleged discrimination based on his caste and made charges of corruption in the transfer of officials. He said he was being sidelined and officials didn’t respond to his calls.
Observers said the two-time MLA from Hastinapur in Meerut district has had issues with officials not just in his ministry but had raised concerns about not being listened to by the local police in Meerut in the past.
“Through the letter that went viral, he achieved his goal of making his grievances known to the central leadership that can’t choose to ignore a Dalit leader, who has come through the ranks and whose grandfather and father have served the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh,” said a BJP leader from Meerut, requesting anonymity.
The minister had also met with BJP president J.P. Nadda in Delhi late on Wednesday night, where he was apparently promised that the issues would be resolved but was told to raise such grievances only in the party forum.
