Cm adds 12 fresh faces in cabiinet

Aiming to refurbish the image of his government and ensure speedy deliverance of welfare schemes, CM Akhilesh Yadav elevated nine colleagues, brought in 12 fresh faces and also inducted a Mulayam loyalist from Punjab into his new-look cabinet. This is the sixth rejig of the state cabinet in the 43 month SP regime.  

Doing a tight rope walk to balance caste and regional equations, this was Yadav’s biggest reshuffle since assuming office. This is also interpreted as an effort to contain anti-incumbency keeping in mind the 2017 Assembly polls. Governor Ram Naik administered the oath of office and secrecy to all the ministers at a function at the Raj Bhawan on Saturday morning in presence of SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey and the CM.

Five ministers were sworn in as cabinet ministers, eight as minister of state (independent charge) and the remaining as minister of state.  

The minister of states who were elevated to cabinet rank are Arvind Singh Gope, Kamal Akhtar, Vinod Kumar Singh alias Pandit Singh while those who were elevated to minister of state (independent charge) are Yasir Shah, Nitin Agarwal, Farid Mahfooz Kidwai, Riyaz Ahmed, Moolchand Chauhan and Ram Sakal Gujar.  

The new faces in the ministry are Pawan Pandey (back after a political sabbatical), laxmikant alias Pappu Nishad, Sayeeda Shadab Fatima (the second woman minister), Shailendra Yadav,  Radhe Shyam Singh, Onkar Singh Yadav,  Sudhir Kumar Rawat, Madan Chauhan, Sahab Singh Saini, Hemraj Verma and Banshidhar Baudh . One of the ministers of state, Hemraj Verma  could not make it on time from Pilibhit and was administered the oath in the afternoon.

The strength of the ministry has now risen to 58 with 24 cabinet and the rest being ministers of states. Madan Chauhan and Ms Sayeeda Sadab Fatima have been made state ministers with independent charge while the seven new entrants were made minister of state.  

The surprise inclusion however was that of old Mulayam loyalist Balwant Singh Ramowalia from Punjab. A senior vice-president of Shiromani Akali Dal, Ramoowalia has been a two-term MP from Sangrur earlier and was a Union minister in the Devegowda government. Presently based in Ghaziabad, Ramowalia told the media, “ I am grateful to the CM for appointing me as a cabinet minister.” He is likely to be nominated in the Upper House in the next six months.