Uttar Pradesh cabinet expansion: 6 new ministers inducted into Yogi government
Uttar Pradesh cabinet expansion: 6 new ministers inducted into Yogi government
M.U.H
10/05/202627
The Uttar Pradesh State Cabinet underwent a much-delayed expansion on Sunday with the induction of key figures into the Yogi Adityanath-led government. With the state headed to the polls next year, the composition of the new set of ministers reflects the BJP’s widening social and regional outreach.
The decision came after the Assembly elections in four states concluded and the swearing-in ceremony of new CM Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday, which CM Adityanath attended. The BJP’s central leadership is learnt to have given its nod.
The number of ministers in the state Cabinet has risen from 54, including the CM, to 60 — the upper limit.
Sanjay Prasad, Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister and the State Information Department, confirmed that the swearing-in will begin at Jan Bhavan in the state capital from 3 pm onwards.
Among the new ministers is former state BJP president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary. A K Sharma, known to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been removed from the post following a stir over smart prepaid power meters over ‘inflated’ power bills, and the state government having to withdraw these meters
Hansraj Vishwakarma is another leader among the new ministers. An OBC leader and Member of the Legislative Council, Vishwakarma, hails from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency of Varanasi. He is known to be an active party worker, having worked at the booth level and participated actively in the Ram temple movement. PM Modi had mentioned his name for his role in the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha election campaigning in the constituency.
Kailash Singh Rajput, yet another new minister inducted into the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet is a second-term BJP MLA representing the Tirwa Assembly constituency in Kannauj, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’s Lok Sabha seat. Kailash belongs to the OBC Lodh Rajput community, to which former chief minister Kalyan Singh belonged. He briefly left the BJP to join the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) during its rule from 2007 to 2012, but later returned. He is the second minister from Kannauj, after Asim Arun, who serves as the Minister of State with Independent Charge for Social Welfare and SC/ST Welfare.
Surendra Diler, BJP MLA from Khair Assembly constituency in Aligarh, comes from an influential political family. He began his political journey by assisting his Rajveer Singh Diler in booth management. His selection for the Cabinet before the 2027 Assembly elections is viewed as an effort to ensure representation for the Valmiki community.
Krishna Paswan is the only woman in the new Cabinet expansion and an SC face. Party leaders indicate that she has risen from the party’s grassroots, starting her political career in the panchayat polls. She was first elected as a BJP MLA from the Kisunpur Assembly seat in 2007, when the BSP government came to power in the state.
Manoj Kumar Pandey is known as a rebel leader within the SP political circles. He served three terms as the SP MLA from the Unchahar Assembly constituency and was once considered close to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav. During Yadav’s regime from 2012 to 2017, Pandey was appointed a minister and later became the Assembly’s chief whip. While he is the only upper-caste representative in the expansion and specifically represents the Brahmin community.
