Lucknow, Feb 26 (IANS): The 11-month-old Akhilesh Yadav government has undertaken the biggest reshuffle of the bureaucracy by transferring 51 Indian Administrative Service, 48 Provincial Civil Service, 88 Indian Police Service and 92 Provincial Police Service officials.

Many of those shifted were considered close to the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) but were shown the door after almost a "year of dismal and poor performance", a close aide of the chief minister said.

The transfer list was released midnight and caught many officials unaware as it was a holiday Monday and the chief minister only recently had undertaken a major reshuffle of the babudom.

Officials inform that these en masse transfers were long overdue as the SP government was completing one year and its ratings among the people remained average or poor.

"Old loyalists have been given an year in plum postings, those who failed to deliver have been cut to size as the chief minister does not want their lethargy to hit party's prospects in the Lok Sabha polls whenever they are held," a senior ruling party functionary told IANS.

The state government had only recently affected a reshuffle by changing the district magistrates and police chiefs of almost 50 districts.