Yogi to rejig cabinet to set caste combination

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath would rejig his cabinet to set the caste combination right ahead of the next Assembly elections in the state, due in little over two year's time.

According to the sources in the BJP here, the cabinet reshuffle could take place in the next few days.

Sources said that as many as 17 new ministers might be included in the state cabinet. Currently, the strength of Adityanath's cabinet was 43, though there could be a maximum of 60 ministers in the state.

''There is a need to set the caste combination right in the cabinet... there is presently no representation of some important communities... the representation of some other communities may be increased also,'' said a senior state BJP leader while speaking to DH here on Sunday.

Besides, according to the BJP leader, eastern and Bundelkhand regions might get more representation in the cabinet. Some state BJP leaders had expressed resentment over lack of representation of the two regions in the Adityanath ministry.

The chief minister had recently hinted that performance would be the key factor in the cabinet. Sources said that some ministers, whose performance was not up to the mark, might be dropped while some others, who had performed well, might be promoted to cabinet rank.

Sources said that the saffron party also wanted some more "Yadavs" in the cabinet to make a dent into the Samajwadi Party (SP) vote bank. "We have stressed the need for inclusion of a few more Yadavs in the cabinet to send the message to the community that we have not neglected it," the BJP leader said.

Adityanath had met the central BJP leaders, including union Home minister Amit Shah and party president J P Nadda and discussed the expansion, sources said.