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Yogi Adityanath swearing-in: PM Modi, Amit Shah key invitees at grand ceremony
The ceremony will be held at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow at 4 pm on March 25, Friday. Elaborate arrangements are being made for the event at the stadium which has the capacity to seat around 50,000.
Yogi Adityanath will take oath as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for a second time at 4 pm on Thursday. The saffron-robed Bharatiya Janata Party leader will be sworn in at a grand ceremony in Lucknow, with prime minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah present. Also present will be the chief ministers of several BJP-ruled states, including Uttarakhand's Pushkar Dhami, at whose swearing-in Wednesday Yogi was present.
The prime minister will, of course, be the chief guest. Shah will be joined by union ministers Rajnath Singh Dharmendra Pradhan and Anurag Thakur, and BJP chief JP Nadda, as the party puts on a show of strength after recording a thumping win in last month's Assembly election.
BJP allies - Apna Dal (Sonelal) and Nishad party - which claimed an impressive 18 seats between them will also be invited, and will be hopeful of representation in the cabinet.
Senior opposition leaders have also been invited, including Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra - who led the party's UP election campaign.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and party founder Mulayam Yadav have also been called, as have Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati
It is unclear if opposition leaders will be present.
Bollywood stars like Akshay Kumar and Kangana Ranaut have also received invitations. Reports not independently verified by Hindustan Times say cast and crew of The Kashmir Files - the controversial move on Kashmir Pandits - have also been given invitiations.
The ceremony will be held at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow at 4 pm on March 25, Friday. Elaborate arrangements are being made for the event at the stadium which has the capacity to seat around 50,000.
ALSO READ: Stage set for grand swearing-in ceremony for second Yogi government
Prominent saints from the temple towns of Ayodhya, Mathura and Kashi (Varanasi) will also be invited to the swearing-in ceremony of the Yogi Adityanath government 2.0.
Beneficiaries of various schemes of the first Yogi Adityanath government, including women, will also be invited, it added.
The BJP has asked invitees to come with the party flag on their vehicles. There will be a system of invitation cards for all visitors, which will be made available at the district level.
The BJP, which won 255 seats (273 with allies) in the 403-member assembly, created history by becoming the first government in the country’s most populous state, since 1987, to be re-elected after completing its first term.
Its main challenger, the Samajwadi Party-led alliance, won 125 seats, of which 111 went to the Akhilesh Yadav-led party. Congress won just two seats.
