Yogi sworn in for 2nd term; UP government gets a new complexion

Lucknow: Yogi Adityanath was sworn in as the 33rd chief minister of Uttar Pradesh on Friday in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers and a galaxy of chief ministers.

Adityanath was administered the oath of office by Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel at the Ekana stadium here, with over 75,000 people from different walks of life, cheering him on.

Two deputy chief ministers were also sworn in along with the chief minister. They include Keshav Maurya — who recently lost the election, and Brajesh Pathak.

Deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma in the previous government, has been dropped this time. Sources said that he would now be given an organisational post.

The new ministry sworn in on Friday includes 52 ministers, including 18 in cabinet rank, and the government now has a new complexion.

Five women ministers have been included. They are — Baby Rani Maurya, Gulab Devi, Pratibha Shukla, Rajni Tiwari and Vijay Laxmi Gautam.

Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Swatantra Dev Singh has been inducted into the ministry while some senior leaders including Shrikant Sharma, Siddhartha Nath Singh, Ashutosh Tandon, Mahendra Singh, Jai Pratap Singh, Satish Mahana and Mohsin Raza have been dropped.

A much-awaited inclusion was that of former IAS officer Arvind Sharma who had quit his job in the PMO last year and was made MLC in Uttar Pradesh.

Asheesh Patel of Apna Dal and Sanjay Nishad of Nishad Party have also found a berth in the council of ministers as cabinet ministers.

Daya Shankar Singh, husband of former minister Swati Singh, has also been made minister of state.

Former IPS officer Aseem Arun, who quit his job in January to join politics, has also been made minister.

However, former ED official Rajeshwar Singh, who won the election after quitting his job, has not been made minister.

Among the surprise omissions in the government formation are rebel Congress MLA Aditi Singh who had contested the elections on a BJP ticket from Rae Bareli.

Aparna Yadav, younger daughter-in-law of Mulayam Singh Yadav, who was also tipped to become a minister, was not on the list.

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