Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav sacked eight of his ministers and withdrew portfolios of nine others on Thursday as a prelude to a Cabinet reshuffle.
Five cabinet ministers and three ministers of state, who were sacked by Yadav, will be replaced by new ministers, said reports.
On Wednesday, the UP chief minister had met Governor Ram Naik at the Raj Bhavan to discuss the impending Cabinet reshuffle.
The sacked cabinet ministers include Raja Mahendra Aridaman Singh, Shiv Kumar Beria, Narad Rai, Ambika Chaudhary and Shivakant Ojha while the ministers of state are Alok Kumar Shakya, Yogesh Pratap Singh and Bhagwat Sharan Gangwar.
The nine ministers to be divested of their ministries include Raguhraj Pratap Singh, Avdhesh Prasad, Ahmad Hasan, Paras Nath Yadav, Ram Govind Chowdhary, Durga Prasad Yadav, Brahma Shankar Tripathi, Iqbal Masood and Mehboob Ali.
The departments handled by these ministers will be with the chief minister, reports said.
In the Council of Ministers with a maximum permissible strength of 60, UP has 26 Cabinet Ministers, 24 ministers of state and four ministers of state with independent charge.
