LUCKNOW: Backed by the Sang Pariwar, five-time MP and BJP’s Hindutva mascot Yogi Adityanath was sworn in as the 21st Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. His 46-member strong Cabinet, reflection of his party chief Amit Shah’s social engineering formula to win the State, was also administered oath of office and secrecy by Governor Ram Naik.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi exuded confidence that the new team would be able to turn the State into “Uttam Pradesh”. More than one lakh people reportedly attended the swearing in ceremony, including the Prime Minister and the party chief along with a number of other Cabinet Ministers. BJP’s State chief Keshav Maurya and national vice-president Dinesh Sharma were sworn in as deputy CMs.
A surprise drop, however, was Pankaj Singh, son of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and a first time MLA from Noida. He was not part of the 46-member team sworn in on Sunday. In consonance with Shah’s formula, upper castes, non-Yadav backwards and non-Jatav Dalits seem to have got a fair-share of representation in the Cabinet.
Yadavs and Muslims, meanwhile, who had a sizeable presence in previous Akhilesh’s government, have been cautiously left out, with just one member from both the communities. The newly sworn in Cabinet is being seen as a cautious bid to strike a caste and regional balance in the diverse and humongous State.
While five women have been inducted as ministers, and seven turncoats and two allies -- one each of Apna Dal and SBSP — have also got a representation. Among women, former UPCC chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who is now a BJP MLA, has been inducted as the only woman Cabinet Minister in the State.
Soon after assuming charge, Chief Minister Adityanath reached out to the people of the State through a series of tweets from his new, official Twitter handle. He assured one and all, irrespective of caste, creed and religion of a clean, transparent and good governance. The new Chief Minister also promised to deliver the development agenda of the Prime Minister and live up to the bill of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas without any discrimination. He later briefed the media on his agenda and vision for the State.
“The Chief Minister has asked all ministers to disclose their income within the next 15 days and submit details of the same to both the Secretariat and the party office,” said newly inducted ministers Shrikant Sharma and Siddharth Nath Singh, briefing the media about the details of the Cabinet meeting that was held after the swearing in ceremony.