Yogi Adityanath sworn in as UP CM for 2nd term, 52 minister inducted

Lucknow, March 25: Yogi Adityanath on Friday took oath as the 22nd Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for the second consecutive term, a feat never repeated by any CM in the history of the state. Governor Anandi Ben Patel administered the oath of office to Yogi at a grand function organized at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium. While Keshav Maurya was sworn in as Yogi’s deputy for the second consecutive term, Brijesh Pathak was named as the Deputy CM for the first time. The swearing in ceremony was held in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was the chief guest, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) president JP Nadda. Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan, Anurag Thakur, Smriti Irani, Ramdas Atawale, BJP ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) and Union Minister Anupriya Patel and Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Hayrana CM Manohar Lal, Himachal Pradesh CM Jai Ram Thakur and other BJP ruled states were also present on the occasion. Yogi’s council of ministers include 16 Cabinet Ministers, 14 Ministers of State (Independent Charge) and 20 Ministers of State. There are five women and one Muslim in the council of ministers. Among cabinet Ministers only Suresh Kumar Khanna, Surya Pratap Shahi, Laxmi Narain Chaudhary, Nand Gopal Gupta ‘Nandi’, Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary, Anil Rajbhar and Jitin Prasada have been retained. BJP state president Swatantra Dev Singh has been rewarded for the party’s victory in the assembly polls with a cabinet berth in the Yogi government. Former Uttarakhand Governor and Dalit face of the party Baby Rani Maurya too have been made the cabinet minister. Former bureaucrat Arvind Sharma, who was considered close to PM Modi and had worked in the PMO, has been made the cabinet minister. Jaiveer Singh, who defeated Samajwadi Party candidate in SP’s bastion Jaiveer Singh has also been rewarded with a cabinet berth. Rakesh Sachan, who quit Congress to join BJP before polls, has been made the cabinet minister. BJP’s allies Apna Dal (S) and Nishad Party have also been adjusted in the cabinet. Apna Dal state president Ashish Patel and Nishad Party president Dr Sanjay Nishad have been given cabinet berths. Among Ministers of State (Independent Charge) Kapil Dev Agarwal and Ravindra Jaiswal have been retained. Among first time ministers former Commissioner of Police Kanpur Aseem Arun, who quit the job and joined BJP, has been made Minister of State (Independent Charge). Former CM Kalyan Singh’s grandson Sandeep Singh has been elevated and he has been appointed as Minister of State (Independent Charge). Similarly, Gulab Devi has been elevated as and made the Minister of State (Independent Charge). Girish Chandra Yadav has also been elevated as Minister of State (Independent Charge). Former deputy speaker of Vidhan Sabha Nitin Agarwal has been appointed as Minister of State (Independent Charge). Senior BJP leader JPS Rathore has also been made Minister of State (Independent Charge). Among first timers, BJP vice-president and MLA from Ballia Dayashanker Singh has been appointed as Minister of State (Independent Charge). State president of BJP’s OBC Morcha Narendra Kashyap has also been appointed as Minister of State (Independent Charge). MLC Dinesh Pratap Singh, who contested Lok Sabha election against Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli, has also been rewarded and made Minister of State (Independent Charge). A Brahmin leader from Purvanchal Daya Shankar Mishra ‘Dayalu’ has also been appointed as Minister of State (Independent Charge). Among junior ministers only Baldev Singh Aulakh has been retained. Other Ministers of State include Dinesh Khatik, Mayankeshwar Singh, Sanjeev Gaur, Ajit Pal, Jaswant Saini, Ramesh Nishad, Manohar Lal alias Mannu Kori and Sanjay Gangwar. Besides, Brijesh Singh, KP Mallik, Suresh Rahi, Somendra Tomar, Anup Pradhan Valmiki, Pratibha Shukla, Rakesh Rathore ‘Guru’, Rajni Tiwari, Satish Sharma and Vijay Lakshmi Gautam. Danish Azad Ansari, who rose from the ranks within BJP starting from Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), is the lone Muslim face and has been made Minister of State. It may be noted that after a gap of 37 years any party in the state has formed the government for a second consecutive term. (UNI)