JOIN USAdityanath takes charge of UP with jumbo cabinet
Firebrand BJP leader Yogi Adityanath was on Sunday sworn in as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh at a glittering ceremony on the sprawling Smriti Upvan ground here.
Governor Ram Naik administered the oath of office and secrecy to Adityanath in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP national president Amit Shah and the chief ministers of several BJP and NDA-ruled states. Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma took charge as the deputy chief ministers.
Besides, 22 cabinet ministers and 24 ministers of state, including 11 ministers of state with independent charge, were also sworn in. The saffron party made an attempt to give representation to the communities that had extended support to the party in the just-concluded Assembly polls.
The ministry has 17 OBCs, six members from SC, eight Brahmins, seven Thakurs, eight Vaishyas, two from the Jat community and one Muslim.Prominent among those who found a place in Adityanath’s cabinet included BJP national spokesman Shrikant Sharma and senior party leaders Siddharth Nath Singh, Suresh Khanna, Satish Mahana, Ramapati Shastri, Luxmi Narain Chaudhary and Swatantra Deo Singh.
Former India opener Chetan Chauhan and Ranji player from UP Mohsin Raza have found a place in the cabinet.
Chauhan, who played 40 Tests and has 2,084 runs to his credit, won from the Naugawan, Sadat Assembly seat, and will be a cabinet-rank minister. Raza was a medium pacer and represented the state in the Ranji Trophy.
Raza, who is not a member of any of the Houses in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, was included as a minister of state.
Thousands of supporters of Adityanath, the Lok Sabha MP from Gorakhpur, had descended from different parts of the state, especially Gorakhpur and adjoining districts, to witness the swearing-in ceremony. The slogans ‘Jai Shriram’ reverberated in the air when he rose to take oath.
The chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, among others, were also present.
Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav were also present, and greeted Adityanath and his cabinet colleagues after the function.
Raza is lone Muslim face
The 49-member Uttar Pradesh cabinet has one representation from the Muslim community.
Mohsin Raza, who had joined the BJP a few months ago, was included in the cabinet as a minister of state. The BJP had drawn flak for not fielding any Muslim candidate in the just-concluded polls.
Declare assets, directs new CM
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has asked his cabinet colleagues to furnish details of their assets to the party and the government within 15 days.
A committee would be formed under eight-time MLA Suresh Khanna to train the first-time MLAs