Plot to murder me politically: UP minister

Lucknow: Apna Dal (Sonelal) leader and UP technical education minister Ashish Patel has alleged that a conspiracy is being hatched to "murder" him politically over reported irregularities in the promotion of teachers. Patel said the day the PM orders, he will resign from his post as minister.Apna Dal (Sonelal) is a BJP ally.The minister's reaction came amid allegations that more than 100 lecturers in the technical education department were promoted in violation of reservation norms.In a series of posts on X, Patel said, "Entire Uttar Pradesh knows how the interests of staff coming from the deprived classes are protected in the technical education department during my tenure as minister."According to sources, a BJP MLA from western Uttar Pradesh has accused Patel of irregularities in his department. It has been alleged that instead of direct recruitment of department heads in the government polytechnic colleges under the technical education department, lecturers working in colleges have been promoted and made department heads.Pallavi Patel ends protestThe national vice-president of Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) and Samajwadi Party MLA Pallavi Patel, who is the elder sister of Ashish Patel's wife and Union minister Anupriya Patel, sat on a protest on Vidhan Bhawan premises against "irregularities" in the technical education department. However, Patel ended her 9-hour protest on Monday night after UP minister Suresh Khanna met her and convinced her to end the protest. She said she will raise the issue in the Assembly on Tuesday.