Bahujan Samaj Party general secretary and Uttar Pradesh Minister S C Mishra will resign from the ministry after a couple of months to focus on wooing upper castes across the country to the party ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
"Mishra never wanted to join the ministry and I too had assigned him the task of garnering the support of the upper castes in the country for the Lok Sabha polls, but I later changed my decision," Chief Minister Mayawati told reporters in Lucknow on Wednesday.
Mayawati's remarks came as she deflected criticism in the media for showering favours on Mishra's relatives by appointing them as chairpersons in state corporations.
"I decided to keep Mishra here for a few months as any new government needs legal advice, especially in the beginning," she said.
The work assigned to Mishra is likely to be completed in the next two to two-and-half months. After this, he will resign and concentrate on garnering the support of upper castes for the general election in 2009, she said.
Mishra had played a key role in wooing the Brahmin community to the BSP fold in the recent Assembly elections in the state.
Mayawati slammed the media for what she described as "baseless and motivated" reports regarding her assets.
Criticising a section of TV channels and the print media, she took strong exception to the reports that her government had been showering favours on Mishra.
"Mishra helped me in my difficult times... when (BSP founder) Kanshi Ram had a stroke and his family was instigated against me, the Taj case was there and the BSP MLAs in Uttar Pradesh were being made to defect," she said.