UP Gets 4 More Ministers As Yogi Expands His Cabinet, 1 From BJP’s New Ally RLD

In his first cabinet expansion in the second term, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday inducted four new ministers into the government – two from Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) and one each from allies Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP).

BJP leaders Dara Singh Chauhan and Sunil Kumar Sharma, SBSP Chief Om Prakash Rajbhar, and RLD MLA Anil Kumar have taken the oath as ministers in the Uttar Pradesh cabinet. With this, the strength of the UP’s council of ministers has now gone up to 56 from earlier 52.

Congratulating the four leaders, UP CM Yogi Adityanath posted on the microblogging site, X saying that he has full confidence in leaders that they will play an important role in realizing the resolve of ‘developed Uttar Pradesh’ by bringing ‘Modi’s Guarantee’ to the ground.

RLD’s Anil Kumar called the induction ‘a great and joyous moment’ for him.

While Rajbhar represents the Zahoorabad assembly constituency of the Ghazipur district, Anil Kumar is an MLA from Purkazi (SC) in Muzaffarnagar.

Sunil Kumar Sharma is the BJP MLA from the Sahibabad assembly constituency in Ghaziabad district. Dara Singh Chauhan is a member of the UP Legislative Council. This is the first Cabinet expansion in Adityanath’s second term as chief minister.

The move is seen as an attempt by the saffron party to consolidate its position in several regions of the state ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The Rashtriya Lok Dal and the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party are now a part of the ruling NDA.

The names of the new ministers were finalised by the party’s central leadership during a meeting held in Delhi last week. However, the announcement was put on hold owing to the BJP’s first list of candidates for Lok Sabha polls.

(with PTI inputs)