Yogi Adityanath Cabinet reshuffle in Uttar Pradesh soon: Report

A reshuffle in the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is expected to take place soon as three ministers have won the Lok Sabha elections while one was sacked, PTI today quoted BJP sources as saying. This will be the first such exercise since March 2017 when Yoga Adityanath government was sworn in. BJP government is likely to reward leaders for their hard work in ensuring a win in 62 of the 80 seats in the state.

Three Cabinet ministers contested the Lok Sabha election and won. They are S P Singh Baghel from Agra, Rita Bahuguna Joshi from Allahabad and Satyadev Pachauri from Kanpur. SBSP leader and minister O P Rajbhar was sacked by the chief minister over his outburst against the BJP. A senior UP BJP leader told the news agency that reshuffling of the UP Cabinet is on the cards. "However, it is the sole and absolute prerogative of the chief minster." 

In the current council of ministers headed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, there are 18 Cabinet ministers, nine ministers of state (independent charge) and 13 ministers of state. There are also two deputy chief ministers - Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma.

The total number of ministers in UP at present are 43.

UP BJP vice-president J P S Rathore said, "The maximum size of the ministry can be 15 per cent of the total strength of the Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly). The UP Assembly has 403 seats and hence the state can have a maximum of 61 ministers including the chief minister in the Council of Ministers headed by him."

Rathore further said that the current ministerial strength is below the maximum limit.

Earlier, Adityanath had told PTI that a cabinet reshuffle was very much on the cards and he was likely to take a decision soon.