Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath on Wednesday inducted 23 ministers in the state Cabinet, PTI reported. Governor Anandiben Patel administered the oath of office at Raj Bhavan in Lucknow.
This is the Adityanath government’s first Cabinet expansion since he assumed office in 2017. Six ministers of state with independent charge, six Cabinet ministers and 11 ministers of state took oath.
Four ministers of state with independent charge were elevated to Cabinet rank while two new faces – Ram Naresh Agnihotri and Kamla Rani Varun – were given Cabinet positions. The state Cabinet can have 61 ministers, which is 15% of the total strength of the 403-member Assembly, according to The Indian Express.
Among those inducted into the Cabinet were Dr Mahendra Singh, Suresh Rana, Neelkanth Tiwari, Satish Dwivedi, Anil Sharma and Mahesh Gupta, Hindustan Times reported.
The expansion came a day after five ministers, including the state’s Finance Minister Rajesh Agarwal and Basic Education Minister Anupama Jaiswal, resigned. While Agarwal resigned because of health reasons, other ministers reportedly quit due to the Cabinet expansion, The New Indian Express reported.
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