Yogi Cabinet Expansion: In the first rejig of his cabinet since assuming power with a mammoth mandate in the 2017 Assembly elections, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday included 23 new ministers in his cabinet. With today’s reshuffle, the strength of Adityanath’s council of ministers has touched 56. Governor Anandiben Patel administered the oath of office to the ministers which included 18 first-timers. The expansion of the Yogi Adityanath cabinet was scheduled to be held earlier this week but was deferred in view of Arun Jaitley’s ill-health.

 While new faces Ram Naresh Agnihotri and Kamla Rani Varun, joined Adityanath’s team as Cabinet ministers, four ministers of state with independent charge have been promoted as cabinet ministers.
The BJP government, which came to power in 2017 after the party registered an overwhelming victory in the Assembly elections, will now have 11 new ministers of state.List of ministers who joined Yogi Adityanath Cabinet:

Cabinet Ministers

1. Mahendra Singh (MLC)

2. Suresh Rana (MLA, Shamli)

3. Anil Rajbhar (MLA, Shivpur-Varanasi)

4. Ramnaresh Agnihotri (MLA – Bhogaon)

5. Kamla Rani Varun (MLA – Ghatampur)

6. Bhupendra Singh Choudhary (MLC)

Minister of State (Independent Charge)

1. Neelkanth Tiwari (MLA – Varanasi South)

2. Kapil Dev Aggarwal (MLA – Muzaffarnagar – City)

3. Satish Dwivedi (MLA – Etwa, Siddharth Nagar)

4. Ashok Kataria (MLC)

5. Sriram Chouhan (MLA – Ghanghata)

6. Ravindra Jaiswal (MLA – Varanasi – North)

Minister of State

1. Anil Sharma (MLA – Shikarpur)

2. Mahesh Gupta (MLA – Badaun)

3. Anand Swarup Shukla (MLA – Balia Sadar)

4. Giraj Singh Dharmesh (MLA – Agra Cantt)

5. Lakhan Singh Rajput (MLA – Dibiyapur)

6. Nilima Katiyar (MLA – Kalyanpur)

7. Choudhary Udaybhan Singh (MLA – Fatehpur Sikri)

8. Chandrika Prasad Upadhya (MLA – Chitrakoot)

9. Ramshankar Singh Patel (MLA – Madhihan, Mirzapur)

10. Ajit Singh Patel (MLA – Sikandra)

11. Vijay Kashyap (MLA – Charthawal)

Eye on 2022 Assembly elections

With the expansion of the Cabinet, CM Adityanath and the BJP have set off on its task to strengthen its hold in the state and begin preparations for the Assembly elections due on 2022. Political analysts pointed out that Adityanath’s apparent attempt to include young faces in his team is a clear indication that he wants to reach out to the youth of the state who would play a decisive role in electing the next government.
Apart from this, Yogi Adityanath has also tried to address the regional and caste factors in the latest ministry expansion.