Uttar Pradesh: Adityanath to take oath as CM for second term on March 25

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Adityanath will take oath as the Uttar Pradesh chief minister for a second term on March 25, PTI reported on Friday.

On March 11, Adityanath resigned as the chief minister a day after the BJP retained power for a second consecutive time in the state. Governor Anandiben Patel accepted the resignation, and requested him to continue as acting chief minister till the new government was formed.

The swearing-in ceremony will be held at the Ikana stadium on Lucknow’s Shaheed Path at 4 pm on March 25, the agency quoted a senior government official as saying.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP chief JP Nadda are among those who are expected to attend the event, ANI reported.

“Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati are among the prominent names likely to be invited from the opposition parties,” the agency quoted sources as saying.

Beneficiaries of welfare schemes run by the Adityanath government in the past five years will also be invited for the oath-taking ceremony, PTI reported.

Other Cabinet members will also reportedly be sworn in on March 25. The list will be finalised when Adityanath goes to Lucknow from Gorakhpur.

Adityanath will be the first person in 37 years to return as chief minister after completing a full term in Uttar Pradesh.

The Uttar Pradesh elections were held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7. The BJP won 255 out of 403 constituencies, and got a vote share of 41.29%.

The Samajwadi Party scored its highest vote share ever (32%) but failed to cross the majority mark, and won 111 seats. The Congress managed to win only two seats, while the Bahujan Samaj Party won one seat.