BackUP cabinet expansion: Jitin Prasada, six others get berth in Yogi govt. List of new ministers
Jitin Prasada was earlier with the Congress but he switched over to the BJP in June this year
PremiumUP Cabinet Expansion: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday inducted seven new faces including Jitin Prasada in the new Cabinet of chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Prasada was earlier with the Congress but he switched over to the BJP in June this year. The expansion comes just months ahead of the crucial assembly polls in early 2022.
List of ministers inducted today
Jitin Prasada
Chhatrapal Singh
Paltu Ram
Sangita Balwant
Sanjeev Kumar
Dinesh Khatik
Dharmvir Singh
While Jitin was inducted as Cabinet minister, Palturam, Sangeeta Balwant, Sanjeev Kumar, and Dinesh Khatik took oath as ministers of state (MoS).
Until today, there were 53 ministers in the cabinet and the government had seven vacant places as per the constitutional limit. There were 23 cabinet ministers including the chief minister. With Jitin in, now the number of cabinet ministers stand at 24.
There were nine ministers of state with independent charges and 21 ministers of state. Today, six new ministers of state were inducted taking total tally to 27.
The maximum strength of the UP Cabinet can be 15% of the total strength of its Assembly.
Ahead of the cabinet expansion, Sanjay Nishad's name, whose party NISHAD — Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal — will contest the upcoming assembly elections in alliance with the BJP, was also making rounds.
Nishad was in the news recently for his demand from the BJP to project him as a deputy chief minister face in the elections. He had claimed that 18% of voters belong to Nishad (fishermen) community which plays a deciding role on 160 assembly seats.
The Nishad Party had contested the 2017 assembly elections as an ally of the Peace Party, led by Dr Ayub, and contested 72 seats. Its candidate Vijay Mishra had won from Gyanpur seat in Bhadohi district.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the party had allied with the BJP and Sanjay Nishad's son Praveen Nishad was nominated from Sant Kabir Nagar from where he won the elections.
Uttar Pradesh will go to polls early next year with fight expected to be between Yogi-led BJP and Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party. In the 2017 Assembly elections, the BJP had won 312 seats out of the 403 seats, while the SP was restricted to just 47, 177 seats down from what it had won in 2012.
(With inputs from agencies)
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