Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expanded his cabinet on Tuesday with the induction of two new faces from the BJP, one from RLD and another from SBSP. BJP's Sunil Kumar Sharma, Dara Singh Chauhan; RLD's Anil Kumar; SBSP chief OP Rajbhar were administered oath by governor Anandiben Patel at the Raj Bhavan in the presence of Adityanath.
While Rajbhar represents the Zahoorabad assembly constituency of the Ghazipur district, Anil Kumar is an MLA from Purkazi (SC) in Muzaffarnagar. Sunil Kumar Sharma is the BJP MLA from Sahibabad assembly constituency in Ghaziabad district. Dara Singh Chauhan is a member of the UP Legislative Council.
This is the first Cabinet expansion in Adityanath's second term as chief minister. It is being seen as an attempt by the BJP to consolidate its position in several regions of the state ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The Rashtriya Lok Dal and the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party are now a part of the ruling NDA.
The current UP council of ministers has 52 members -- 18 cabinet ministers, including the chief Minister, 14 ministers of state (independent charge) and 20 ministers of state. Last week, Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Jayant Chaudhary met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president J P Nadda in Delhi and formally joined the ruling National Democratic Alliance. On Monday, RLD declared its candidates from Bijnor and Baghpat for the general elections.
Chandan Chauhan, a sitting MLA of the party from Meerapur in Muzaffarnagar, will contest from Bijnor and Dr Rajkumar Sangwan, a senior leader and national secretary of the party, from Baghpat Lok Sabha seat. Dara Singh Chauhan, who lost the Ghosi assembly bye-election after returning to the BJP last year, was elected to the UP Legislative Council this year in January. OP Rajbhar also re-joined the BJP-led NDA last year in 2023.
