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Yogi likely to redefine roles of his ministers
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath is expected to effect major changes in the portfolios and responsibilities of his ministers, including some veterans
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath is expected to effect major changes in the portfolios and responsibilities of his ministers, including some veterans who barely escaped getting axed in the cabinet expansion carried out on Wednesday.
Adityanath reportedly sat through till late in the night with some leaders in the organisation to decide the portfolios, including those of his two deputy chief ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma.
A deputy chief minister’s role was expected to be scaled up, with at least one more department being added to his list of responsibilities, a BJP source said.
“However, nothing is final until it is official,” the source hastened to add.
“It’s public knowledge that the functioning of some of the ministers left a lot to be desired. Some of them have escaped getting dropped but they surely are going to have their roles redefined,” a BJP leader said.
A BJP leader said the new-look ‘Team Yogi’ would have to take the by-poll test. By-polls to 13 assembly seats are likely to be announced in a month’s time. This would be followed by the bigger test in 2022 assembly polls when the people’s perception on the performance of ‘Team Yogi’ would be tested.
“The expansion and the rejig of the portfolios have a common goal: to ensure that the government is able to connect with the common man and benefits of various government schemes reach the most remote parts of the state,” a BJP leader said.
Among the 18 new faces in the Wednesday’s expansion, there are many young ones, including a few ministers in their 40s.
“The chief minister met them both before and after the expansion leaving little room for any doubt that he wanted them to hit the ground running,” a senior UP minister said.
The cabinet expansion happened 29 months after the Yogi government was sworn in on March 2017.
