Yogi Adityanath chose his UP Cabinet to accomplish ‘Mission 2022’?

While expanding his cabinet which can be 60 ministers strong, the CM inducted six cabinets, six Ministers of State with Independent Charge and 11 Ministers of State.

Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in a group photo with the newly inducted ministers after their swearing-ing ceremony at Raj Bhawan in Lucknow Wednesday August 21 2019. | PTI

LUCKNOW: Almost halfway into his tenure, Yogi Adityanath effected the much-awaited first expansion of his cabinet by inducting 23 ministers thus bringing it to the strength of 56 here on Wednesday. Of the 23 ministers sworn in on Wednesday, 18 were new faces. Yogi cabinet so far had 43 ministers only.

While expanding his cabinet which can be 60 ministers strong, the CM inducted six cabinets, six Ministers of State with Independent Charge and 11 Ministers of State. Of the 23, three MLCs and 20 MLAs were sworn in.

The political punditry of the state believes that CM Yogi has picked and chose faces to conjure up his new team which can deliver effectively on all accounts to achieve his ‘Mission 2022’.

While four ministers of state with independent charge – Dr Mahendra Singh, Suresh Rana, Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary and Anil Rajbhar -- were elevated to the cabinet rank, two new faces—Kamla Rani Varun and Ram Naresh Agnihotri – were sworn in as cabinet ministers.

Neelkanth Tiwari, MLA from Varanasi, was promoted to the rank of MoS with Independent Charge from MoS besides five new faces were sworn into the same category.

PM Modi’s parliamentary constituency is represented by three MLAs, Ravindra Jaiswal, Neekanth Tiwari and Anil Rajbhar—in Yogi’s new cabinet.

Moreover, 11 new faces were inducted into the cabinet as ministers of state (MoS) from across the state. While choosing his team, CM Yogi seems to have tried to strike the caste and regional balance so as to address the aspirations of all the sections.

Besides 12 backward and Dalit faces, six Brahmins, 2 Thakurs and four ministers from Vaishya (traders) community have been inducted into the expanded cabinet. Caste calculations have been handled tactfully as they play a crucial role during elections beyond doubt in Uttar Pradesh.

On the other hand, region-wise, the new team seems to be dominated by the MLAs from western UP.

However, other regions have also been given adequate representation.

While 10 of the 23 faces belong to western UP, eastern UP is represented by 7 and five new ministers come from central UP.

By inducting two new faces – Ram Naresh Agnihotri from SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav’s stronghold Mainpuri and Lakhan Singh Rajput from Auraiyya district adjacent to Etawah—the CM seems to have paid attention to voters of Yadav land. Chandrika Prasad Upadhyay from Chitrakoot has been included in the cabinet after the resignation of Swatantra Dev Singh from Bundelkhand.

Though the portfolios were not announced on Wednesday, sources claimed that they were finalised in the high-powered coordination committee meeting comprising the CM, two deputy CMs and RSS leadership on Tuesday night.

The ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Anandiben Patel at Raj Bhavan amid intermittent slogans of ‘Har Har Mahadev’ and ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’.

Full list of ministers sworn-in on Wednesday :

The Cabinet ministers are