Bigger Yogi Footprint in UP Cabinet 2.0? Caste Balance, Performance to Decide New Team, Space for Allies Too

As the BJP soaks in the success of its historic victory in Uttar Pradesh, all eyes are on now Yogi Adityanath’s Team 2.0, with sources telling News18 that the chief minister — who tasted electoral success on his debut — is likely to have a bigger say in the formation of the cabinet.

Adityanath on Thursday became the first chief minister to retain power in Uttar Pradesh since the 1985 assembly elections. Additionally, he is the only chief minister of the state with a full five years in the office to win the subsequent election and retain it.

Party insiders say given his spectacular win, the new cabinet is likely to see a bigger Adityanath footprint, with the possibility of new faces being brought in though the final stamp will come from the top brass in Delhi.

Among the notable faces, a question mark looms over the fate of deputy chief ministers Dinesh Sharma and Keshav Prasad Maurya. Maurya lost to the Samajwadi Party’s Pallavi Patel by 7,337 votes from Sirathu.

Law minister Brajesh Pathak, who won from the Lucknow Cantonment seat, is likely to get a bigger role. Former joint director of Enforcement Directorate Rajeshwar Singh — who contested his first assembly election from Sarojini Nagar seat in Lucknow and won — is likely to get a place in the cabinet along with Baby Rani Maurya.

There is also speculation about the new role for former bureaucrat RK Sharma. Meanwhile, former police commissioner and Dalit face Asim Arun, who won from Kannauj, is also a possible name for the cabinet, sources told News18.

Given the BJP’s sweep in the state, caste balance and performance will be the criteria to decide the new Team Yogi. Two allies — Apna Dal and Nishad Party — will also get representation in the cabinet.

The BJP’s pitch of free rations, the ‘bulldozer’ action to drive out mafia, women safety and security, the Narendra Modi face and Yogi Adityanath’s Hindutva pitch with the ‘80-20’ slogan at the onset of the election seem to have done the trick for the BJP in India’s most populous state.

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