New UP CM to be sworn in today; State also gets two deputy CMs; Supporters of Adityanath and Maurya clash with each other
In a dramatic turn of events, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislature party meeting on Saturday elected Yogi Adityanath, the firebrand MP from Gorakhpur, as their leader and the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dr Dinesh Sharma will be the two Deputy Chief Ministers. This is for the first time that the state is getting two Deputy Chief Ministers.
None of the three are members of either Houses of the UP Legislature. Maurya, the party's state president, is an MP from Phulpur, while Dr Dinesh Sharma is the party national vice-president and Lucknow Mayor.
Before both leaders were summoned to New Delhi, supporters of Adityanath and Maurya resorted to heavy sloganeering and almost clashed with each other in favour of their leader being made the Chief Minister.
The Chief Minister and the Deputy CMs will take the oath of the office and secrecy along with other cabinet members at 2.30 pm on Sunday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, about two dozen Union ministers, all Chief Ministers and Governors from BJP-ruled states would be present during the swearing-in ceremony on Sunday.
About 20 MLAs are likely to be inducted into the cabinet. Suresh Khanna, Surya Pratap Sahi, Siddhnath Singh, Satish Mahana, Srikant Sharma, Swami Prasad Maurya, Dr Rita Bahugna Joshi, Krishna Paswan, Jai Prakash Nishad,Ramkumar Patel are among the probables.
Soon after the announcement of their election, Adityanath and his two deputies went to meet the UP Governor Ram Naik to stake claim for forming the government.
Party observer Venkaiah Naidu did not explain why Aditynath was chosen, but he explained why two Deputy Chief Ministers were inducted. "Yogiji had himself requested for two deputies to run the state," he said.
Sources said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party national president Amit Shah were against the move. The duo was reportedly in favour of Manoj Sinha, Minister of State for Railways. Top BJP sources claim that the pressure from the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) tilted the balance in favour of Adityanath at the last minute.
"All MLAs who won with huge margins under the Modi wave were not allowed to elect anyone from us. Names were decided earlier and the three were literally forced upon us by the Sangh Parivar," said a BJP MLA from Central UP.
Naidu did not allow the new chief minister to address the press. "He will speak to media persons on Sunday after the swearing-in ceremony," he said.
While the new government's agenda should have ideally come from the new Chief Minister, Naidu spelled out the priorities of the government. "People of the state voted the BJP to power with a huge majority for development above caste and religion. Development will be the main agenda of the new government," he said.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Yogi Adityanath-KP Maurya-Dinesh Sharma")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}