Yogi Adityanath likely to expand UP Cabinet soon

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath may effect the much-awaited expansion of Cabinet soon.

Speculations the Cabinet expansion have got rife ever since Adityanath along with state unit party president Swatantra Dev Singh met BJP national president Amit Shah and party's working president J P Nadda on Friday.

Among the names which are doing rounds for inclusion in the Cabinet are MLC Vijay Bahadur Pathak, Ashok Katariya, and Pankaj Singh.

It is also being speculated Ministers of State (MoS) Suresh Rana and Anupma Jaiswal might be promoted.

After the removal of Om Prakash Rajbhar from the Cabinet by Adityanath and three ministers -- Rita Bahuguna Joshi, SP Singh Baghel and Satyadev Pachauri -- becoming MPs, the Cabinet expansion has been necessitated.

It is being claimed the Cabinet expansion has been approved by Shah but is being delayed due to delicate health of former Union Minister and BJP leader Arun Jaitley.

Jaitley is currently receiving treatment at the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi.

There are presently 43 ministers in the state Cabinet including Adityanath, two Deputy CMs -- Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma, nine Ministers of State with independent charges and 13 Ministers of State.