BackShiv Pratap Shukla, a Yogi Adityanath rival, named minister of state for finance
Shiv Pratap Shukla, who is currently vice-president of BJP's UP unit, is well known for his rivalry with CM Yogi Adityanath
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New Delhi: In a political balancing act, Shiv Pratap Shukla, a Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh, was appointed as minister of state in the ministry of finance in Sunday’s reshuffle.
This move is seen as a balancing act in eastern Uttar Pradesh—known for its traditional Thakur-Brahmin rivalry. Shukla has a history of locking horns with UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
Shukla, 65, who was minister for prisons in the Kalyan Singh-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state, is a member of the parliamentary standing committee on rural development. Elected to the Uttar Pradesh assembly for four consecutive terms in 1989, 1991, 1993 and 1996, he was a state cabinet minister for eight years and is known for his work in rural development, education and prison reform.
A law graduate from Gorakhpur University, Shukla started out as a student leader in the 1970s. He was also part of the movement against Emergency and was imprisoned for 19 months under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act.
Shukla was in February 2012 appointed vice president of BJP’s Uttar Pradesh unit, which was being led by Surya Pratap Shahi.
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