UP cabinet a beguiling blend of castes and regions

Including the CM, there are 26 upper castes in the new Cabinet. Besides this, 15 others are from backward classes, including a Deputy CM.

LUCKNOW: The new 47-member UP Cabinet, including a CM and 2 Deputy CMs, 22 cabinet ministers, nine Ministers of State (MoS) with Independent Charge and 13 state ministers comes out as a beguiling blend of all castes and inclusive of all regions.

Besides, BJP women’s wing national chief, Swati Singh, the first time party MLA, has been named as  Minister of State with Independent Charge. The other woman MoS is Anupama Jaiswal, an MLA from Bahraich. Two other women ministers are Gulabo Devi and Archana Pandey who have taken over as the ministers of state.

Prime minister Narendra Modi
shares a word with Mulayam
Singh Yadav | pti

The new state cabinet seems slightly tilted in favour of upper castes with 26 faces in it, including the CM himself. Among the rest of 20 ministers, 15 come from backward classes, including a Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Maurya, 5 are Dalit and a lone Mulsim face is ex-Ranji player Mohsin Raza.
Understandably, the Cabinet showcases a slight domination of Eastern UP. Fifiteen of 46 minister are from Purvanchal which is not only the CM’s ‘Karmabhoomi’ but of PM’s also. 

From PM’s parliamentary constituency Varanasi, two MLAs— Anil Rajbhar and Neeelkhanth Tiwari—have made it to the state cabinet. Twelve ministerial berths have gone to the MLAs from western UP, nine members including a Dy CM are from Awadh region, four are from Central UP and a lone face, Mannu Kori, from backward Bundelkhand has also got a berth in Yogi’s team.

After intense confabulations of nearly a week over the name of probable UP CM, the BJP central command arrived at the name of Gorakhnath Mathh’s Mahant who is a five time BJP MP from Gorakhpur. His name, seen as a surprise decision by party high command, was duly proposed and finalised at the Legislature Party meeting of elected MLAS of BJP and its allies on Saturday evening, In the recently concluded UP Assembly elections, BJP and allies romped home to a monumental victory with 325 of 403 seats.

The oath taking ceremony was followed by a series of tweets by the PM.

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