2 days Ago
: With the budget session of the state assembly having concluded, the Yogi Adityanath 2.0 cabinet is likely to witness a second expansion and a rejig of the BJP state unit organisation soon as the party plans to set the tone for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly election. The party’s top leaders have completed the groundwork for the rejig, according to BJP leaders familiar with the development.
With discussions in final stages, the cabinet expansion is likely to take place around Holi. The move is also part of the BJP’s plan to counter the PDA (Pichada or backwards, Dalits and Alpsahkhyaks or Muslims formula) of the Samajwadi Party, its main political rival in the state. Riding the PDA formula, the SP bagged 37 Lok Sabha seats in the 2024 general election.
The BJP suffered a setback, winning just 33 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh in 2024 as against 62 in 2019. At present, the UP Council of ministers has a strength of 54 against the permissible 60. The council of ministers has 21 cabinet ministers, 14 ministers of state (independent charge) and 19 ministers of state.
The caste configuration of the ministry includes 23 ministers from the general category, 22 from OBCs (Other Backward Classes) and nine ministers from the Scheduled Caste (SC) community. To send a message to OBCs and Dalits, the BJP is likely to increase their representation in the ministry. The party also plans to maintain a regional balance.
A BJP leader from the West UP, who belongs to the OBC community, is likely to get a berth. The Yogi cabinet has three former state unit presidents -- Keshav Prasad Maurya, Surya Pratap Shahi and Swatantra Dev Singh. While Maurya and Singh are OBC leaders, Shahi is an upper caste Bhumihar.
State BJP president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary, a Jat leader, is likely to be made a cabinet minister, paving the way to shift ministers from the cabinet to the party organisation. An OBC minister known for his organization skills is likely to replace Chaudhary as state chief, according to those in the know of things. This minister was entrusted with the organisational work in the recently concluded assembly byelections in which the BJP won eight out of 10 seats.
The portfolios of some ministers are likely to be reshuffled. “Non-performers are likely to be axed, while the performers will be rewarded with promotion and allotment of important departments in the ministry,” a BJP leader said. There is a buzz in the corridors of power about a change in the portfolios of deputy chief ministers Brajesh Pathak and Keshav Prasad Maurya.
The deputy CMs might get some extra departments with the shift of some ministers to the party organisation. The PWD and revenue portfolios, currently held by chief minister Yogi Adityanath, are likely to be allotted to new ministers. Jitin Prasad had held the PWD portfolio before his election to the Lok Sabha.
Revenue fell vacant after the election of Anoop Chandra Valmiki to Parliament. The BJP is also likely to accommodate SP MLAs who rebelled against their party during the Rajya Sabha election in February 2024. Rebel SP lawmakers, including Unchahar MLA Manoj Pandey, Puja Pal from Chail and Rakesh Pandey from Jalalpur are considered front-runners among the rebels.
Out of the party’s 90 organizational districts, the list of BJP’s 70 new district presidents is likely to be released before Holi. The first expansion of the Yogi 2.0 ministry took place in March 2024 ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
Four cabinet ministers -- two from the BJP and two from NDA partners -- were given berths. Those inducted then included Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief and Zahoorabad MLA Om Prakash Rajbhar, Rashtriya Lok Dal’s MLA from Purqazi Anil Kumar, BJP MLC Dara Singh Chauhan and BJP MLA from Sahibabad Sunil Kumar Sharma..
