Bharatiya Janata Party legislators aspiring for a berth in the Yogi Adityanath council of ministers may have to wait a little longer as the cabinet reshuffle will take place along with changes in the party’s state organisation.
Changes in the government and the party organisation were planned soon after Narendra Modi took oath as the Prime Minister for the second term on May 30.
The changes in the BJP state organisation have become imperative as incumbent state president Mahendra Nath Pandey has been inducted in the Narendra Modi cabinet.
The cabinet reshuffle is also overdue in the state as three ministers in the Yogi Adityanath cabinet have been elected to Lok Sabha and one minister was dismissed last month.
Along with the new state president, many office-bearers in the party’s UP unit will be changed and new faces are likely to be inducted.
Sources in the BJP said the presidents of party’s national and Uttar Pradesh unit were to be changed as both had joined the Union cabinet. The BJP follows the principle of ‘one man one post.
The sources said the party leadership was of the view that the changes, both in the government and party organisation in UP be made simultaneously.
They said that despite being inducted in the Narendra Modi cabinet as Union Home Minister, Amit Shah would have an important role in the reshuffle in organisation and the Yogi Adityanath cabinet.
The person to be chosen as the next BJP state president will be important as he will lead the party in the next UP assembly election in 2022.
Earlier, it was indicated that the reshuffle in the Yogi Adityanath cabinet would be completed by mid June. This process was expected to be completed within two weeks of the formation of the Narendra Modi cabinet.
The sources said the BJP state leadership, after consultation with the central leadership, had decided to effect the reshuffle both in government and the organisation simultaneously and this process was likely to take some time.
Three ministers of the Yogi Adityanath cabinet – Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Satyadeo Pachauri and SP Singh Baghel — have been elected to Lok Sabha from Allahabad, Kanpur and Agra, respectively.
The Yogi Adityanath government comprising 46 ministers had assumed office on March 19, 2017. Later, to for further fine-tune the regional and caste balance in the council of ministers, it was expected that a few more ministers would be inducted in the government, but the issue lingered on till the Lok Sabha elections.
In the meantime, soon after the last phase of Lok Sabha elections on May 19, Suheldeo Bhartiya Samaj Party president Om Prakash Rajbhar, a cabinet minister and an ally of the BJP, was dismissed from the cabinet on May 20.
The dismissal of Rajbhar and election of three cabinet ministers to Lok Sabha has created three clear vacancies in the Yogi Adityanath cabinet.
The sources say that the party leadership has received complaints against several ministers and they are likely to be axed. They believe that some ministers are likely to be dropped while the portfolios of some may be changed and ministers of state with independent charge are likely to be promoted as cabinet minister. The sources say some ministers may be assigned responsibility in the party organisations in view of their organisational capabilities.
A senior BJP leader said several ministers were more effective when they were in organisation. The leader said a few MLAs and MLCs with good record of performance were likely to be rewarded with a berth in the Yogi Adityanath cabinet.