New Delhi: A feud between Kanpur’s district magistrate and chief medical officer has laid bare fissures within Uttar Pradesh’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with one section of party leaders siding with the former and the other backing the latter.
District Magistrate Jitendra Pratap Singh and Chief Medical Officer Hari Dutt Nemi are locked in a dispute, at the centre of which are corruption allegations against Nemi and him allegedly questioning DM Singh’s style of functioning, with Singh seeking the CMO’s removal.
Many BJP MLAs, including state Assembly Speaker Satish Mahana, have rallied behind CMO Nemi and written to UP Health Minister Brajesh Pathak not to remove him. On the other hand, MLAs Abhijeet Singh Sanga and Mahesh Trivedi, as well as BJP MP Ramesh Awasthi, have thrown their weight behind the DM.
Pathak, who is also the deputy chief minister, is caught in the middle, reportedly waiting to know Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s stance before taking a definitive stand.
A senior state BJP leader said the infighting reflected poorly on the party: “During the Lok Sabha election, the BJP suffered due to official apathy, despite warnings from BJP MLAs. Such public infighting lowers the image of the government. With assembly elections just two years away, such spats between officers can dent the government’s image.”
Both officers have also been posting videos on X defending themselves amid the political storm.
Also Read: UP BJP leader sacked over obscene video, says clip fake, was served ‘intoxicant-laced’ cold drink
Flurry of controversial audio clips
The controversy started when an audio clip, purportedly featuring CMO Nemi, came under circulation, where he could be heard commenting on the district magistrate’s style of functioning, calling him an “attention seeker”.
“This is the only DM in 75 districts who is taking credit for everything. If any meeting can happen in 20 minutes, he takes an hour to narrate stories from all around the world and exaggerates things. Now I am seeing women who go for meetings get irritated,” he was heard saying.
In another clip, the CMO was allegedly heard demanding bribes. He, however, denied that it was his voice, saying that it was AI-generated.
The authenticity of these audio clips has not been independently verified by ThePrint.
But after the matter escalated following several complaints from health officials, district magistrate Singh wrote a letter to the principal secretary of health to remove the CMO, saying that several complaints had been received against him for not following government orders, mentally harassing district health officials and seeking bribes for transfer postings.
“The CMO has transferred Dr R.N. Singh nine times in 10 days, and moved finance officer Vandana Singh to a non-finance department. Under the CMO, the status of the district’s health infrastructure is pathetic. At many places, fraud attendance was registered and no action was initiated against absentees. The CMO’s administration was found to be weak, and that is why action is needed against him,” Singh wrote.
Nemi denied the allegations, claiming that the transfers were legitimate. He said the doctor was transferred only three times, and not nine, and that too because of complaints against him. “The audio is AI-generated and DM saheb has been misguided by a few department officials. A few officials are putting pressure for bill payment and they have briefed DM saheb,” he told media persons.
The conflict escalated Sunday when the DM asked the CMO to leave during a review meeting with the chief minister after asking him about the audio tapes.
During the meeting, when the CMO told the DM that “it wasn’t his voice but an AI-generated audio, the DM said, “Then you should register an FIR and investigate the matter.”
Political turn
The row soon took a political turn with some BJP MLAs lobbying in favour of the CMO and against the district magistrate, while others backing the DM.
Assembly Speaker Mahana wrote to health minister Pathak asking for the CMO to not be transferred, citing his good behaviour and administrative skills. “He is a good officer and always available for the people. So he should not be transferred,” he wrote.
BJP MLA from Kanpur, Arun Pathak, also wrote to the health minister, requesting him not to transfer the CMO, describing him as a good officer implementing both state and central health schemes with dedication.
He told ThePrint, “The CMO met me and explained his side. He’s a good officer who helps us. As public representatives, whenever we send someone during a health crisis, he takes personal interest and ensures they get help. That’s why we’ve requested the minister not to transfer him. If there’s an issue with the DM, the government will investigate and take action if needed.”
Another party MLA Surendra Naithani made the same recommendation in a letter to the minister. “The CMO’s conduct was found to be satisfactory, and our job is to save such officers,” he told ThePrint.
However, BJP MLA Sanga came out in support of the DM. In a letter to the chief minister, not the deputy chief minister, Sanga alleged, “Many illegal private hospitals are running under the protection of the CMO and the CMO takes commissions from them. As a result, the state of government hospitals is deteriorating day by day, and poor people have been forced to take treatment in private hospitals. So, I request to start an enquiry against the CMO and transfer him.”
A source in the BJP said that the party’s Kanpur MP Ramesh Awasthi also aligned himself with the DM. “When the CMO visited his residence to request him to write a letter, the MP refused. Although a few party men pressured the MP to write in favour of the CMO, he told them the CMO was corrupt, and the DM had been doing a good job of streamlining corrupt officers,” the source told ThePrint.
According to party sources, one section of the UP BJP is now backing the medical officer, while some officials from the Chief Minister’s Office are siding with the DM. “It’s turning into a CM office-versus-deputy CM conflict. Between Yogi and Pathak, BJP leaders are choosing their side,” said a second source.
He added that the health minister was caught between supporting the official who comes under him on the one hand, and the chief minister on the other. “He is waiting for the dust to settle and watching the chief minister’s moves, so he can take a position.”
The source further said that Pathak has, in the past, asserted his authority over departmental officials to show his supremacy. “This led to the transfer of then Health Secretary Amit Mohan in 2022 after he transferred many doctors without his approval.”
Opposition leader and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav took a dig at the chief minister Tuesday, saying, “Earlier, the DCM and OCM (outgoing CM) were fighting. The engines were colliding. Now the cabins of the train are colliding, guard cabins too are colliding, and officers are fighting in the open.”
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
Also Read: Businesses battered, but ‘aayega toh Modi hi’ — why Kanpur’s small business owners still back BJP
