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Yogi expands ministry, balances caste and regional equations
Bhupendra Chaudhary, Manoj Pandey cabinet ministers, Krishna Paswan, Kailash Rajput, Surendra Diler and Hansraj Vishwakarma new ministers of state; Ajit Pal, Somendra Tomar elevated
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday expanded his ministry and inducted six new ministers, including two of cabinet rank and four ministers of state, besides elevating two ministers of state to minister of state (independent charge). The move is seen as a bid to fine-tune socio-political equations in the BJP’s favour ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections when the party will seek a third successive term in the state.
Those inducted include a Brahmin, three OBCs and two Dalit leaders. The new cabinet ministers are former UP BJP president Bhupendra Chaudhary and former Samajwadi Party minister Manoj Pandey. The new ministers of state are Krishna Paswan, Kailash Rajput, Surendra Diler and Hansraj Vishwakarma; all four are first-time ministers
Those elevated include ministers of state Ajit Pal, who represents Sikandara assembly constituency of Kanpur Dehat, Somendra Tomar, an MLA from Meerut (south) assembly constituency. Both of them have been sworn in as ministers of state (independent charge) and new portfolios will be allotted to them soon.
Governor Anandiben Patel administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new and elevated ministers at a simple ceremony in the presence of senior ministers and officers at Jan Bhavan here on Sunday afternoon.
The second ministerial expansion of Yogi 2.0 government is also being considered the BJP’s attempt to counter the main opposition Samajwadi Party, which has continued to focus on the PDA (Pichhda, Dalit and Alpsankhyak) formula.
Among the new cabinet ministers, Pandey, a Brahmin represents Unchahar assembly constituency of Rae Bareli, the parliamentary seat of the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.
He is the Samajwadi Party’s former chief whip, former cabinet minister in the Akhilesh Yadav government and an unattached MLA. Bhupendra Chaudhary, a Jat leader, and former minister who is now an MLC, was the first to be sworn in.
With the induction of Dalit leader Krishna Paswan, the BJP MLA from Khaga in Fatehpur, the number of women in the Yogi ministry has gone up to five now.
Out of six newly inducted ministers, two are from West UP, one from east UP and three from central Uttar Pradesh.
Chaudhary is from Moradabad while new minister of state Surendra Diler, a Dalit leader and BJP MLA, represents Khair assembly constituency of Aligarh.
Hansraj Vishwakarma, a BJP MLC and OBC leader is the district BJP president of Varanasi, the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime MInister Narendra Modi.
The three other new ministers are from central UP. OBC leader Kailash Rajput represents Tirwa assembly constituency of Kannauj, Pandey and Krishna Paswan also come from the central UP region.
The Yogi 2.0 ministry had six vacancies. With Sunday’s expansion the number of cabinet ministers has gone up to 23 now. It has 16 ministers of state (independent charge) and 21 ministers of state, taking the total strength of the state ministry to 60, the maximum permissible strength. Minister for finance and parliamentary affairs Suresh Khanna said this was an effort to ensure that the government functioned in an exemplary manner.
