Monday, 27 September 2021 | Preetam Srivastava | Lucknow
Ahead of polls CM inducts 3 OBCs, 2 Dalits, 1 ST & 1 Brahmin
In a move to balance the caste equation in his Ministry ahead of next year’s Assembly election, Uttar Pradesh (UP) Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expanded his Cabinet on Sunday by inducting seven new faces, which included three OBCs, two Dalits, one ST and one Brahmin.
Jitin Prasada (Brahmin), Chhatrapal Singh Gangwar (Kurmi), Paltu Ram (Dalit), Sangita Balwant Bind (OBC), Sanjeev Kumar (ST), Dinesh Khatik (SC) and Dharmvir Prajapati (OBC) were inducted into the Cabinet at a simple ceremony.
Jitin took oath as Cabinet Minister while the others were sworn-in as Minister of State (MoS). The oath was administered by Governor Anandiben Patel at a function in the Gandhi auditorium in the Raj Bhavan.
There were 53 Ministers in the UP Cabinet earlier and seven more were inducted on Sunday as per the constitutional limit, out of which there are now 24 Cabinet Ministers including the Chief Minister.
The Cabinet was expanded for the first time on August 22, 2019 and several new faces were included then, while some were dropped. There were 56 members in the Cabinet at that time.
Three Ministers died due to Covid-19, which included the Minister of State Vijay Kumar Kashyap, who died recently, while Minister Chetan Chauhan and Minister Kamal Rani Varun died in the first wave of the Corona pandemic.
Brahmin leader Prasada had been inducted into the BJP earlier this year amid its internal worries about the thin representation of the community in the party. He was made a Cabinet Minister in the Yogi Government.
Prasada’s entry is meant to help the BJP reset the optics of the Yogi Adityanath Government, perceived by a section of the State’s Brahmins as being pro-Thakur (the Chief Minister’s caste). Brahmins make up about 13 per cent of UP’s voters and are an influential chunk that has steadily gravitated from the Congress towards the BJP over the years.
Earlier, the name of Sanjay Nishad whose party Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (NISHAD) will contest the 2022 UP Assembly elections in alliance with the BJP was also making the rounds along with that of former Uttarakhand Governor Baby Rani Maurya to be inducted in the Yogi Cabinet.
In the expansion of the Narendra Modi Cabinet at the Centre on July 8 this year also, special preference was given to leaders from UP. Out of the seven new Ministers included from UP at the Centre, four were OBCs, two Dalits and one was from the Brahmin society. This is the first time that a record 15 Ministers have been made from UP in the Modi Cabinet.
