Mayawati sacks minister for forgery, irregularities

LUCKNOW - Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Wednesday sacked state minister Ashok Kumar Dohre for allegedly committing forgery and financial irregularities, an official said here.

“Dohre, who was holding charge of the ministry of Land Conservation and Water Resources, was found to have gone to the extent of forging letter-heads of the agriculture minister to throw his weight on officials of the agriculture ministry from whom he would seek undue favours,” a government spokesman said.

“The minister was even alleged to have made attempts to fraudulently divert and misappropriate government funds,” he said.

“The chief minister communicated her recommendation to Governor B.L. Joshi and the Raj Bhawan promptly issued orders for his removal from the cabinet,” the spokesman added.

The chief minister was understood to have taken the decision to sack Dohre following complaints against the minister by her own Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) activists. However, what is said to have accelerated the decision was a confirmation by state Agriculture Minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui, who is among Mayawatis close confidants.