Yogi Adityanath took the first step towards the formation of his second regime as he was elected as leader of the BJP Legislature Party at a meeting of party legislators in Lucknow on Thursday.
The meeting was also attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and former chief minister of Jharkhand, Rahghuvar Das among other top leaders of the party.
Senior leader of Bharatiya Janata Party and nine-time MLA Suresh Khanna proposed the name of Yogi as the leader of BJP Legislature Party and Surya Pratap Shahi, Baby Rani Maurya, Ram Naresh Agnihotri, Sushil Shakyam and Nand Gopal Gupta ‘Nandi’ seconded it.
Yogi then called on Governor Anandiben Patel and staked a claim to form the next government in Uttar Pradesh.
He will be sworn in as chief minister at a function at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium here on Friday.
"Today I have been elected as leader of the BJP Legislature Party which is a matter of pride for us. But this also means we have to work with more vigour to ensure that the benefits of government schemes reach the targeted audience," Yogi said while addressing the legislators after being elected leader.
The chief minister designate said that when he was elected leader of the legislature party for the first time in 2017, he did not have administrative experience. "I was just a Member of Parliament and had never been a minister. I worked under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah and they guided me about the nuances of administration. With their help I was able to pull the state out of the prevailing misrule and transform it to a performing state in just five years," he said.
In his 20-minute speech, Yogi elaborated on the achievements of the BJP government, ranging from free distribution of ration, effective control of pandemic, improving law and order situation to inviting investments in the state.
"In 2017 I learnt the difference between an MP and a chief minister. As an MP, I was responsible for the development of a constituency while as chief minister I am answerable to each and every person of the state. People’s welfare is my responsibility and this lesson I learnt from Modi ji and Shah ji," the chief minister-designate said.
Yogi even recounted how Shah had asked him to increase the state’s budget size if his government wanted to meet the aspirations of the people.
"Under his (Shah’s) guidance the budget size was increased from Rs 2 lakh crore to Rs 6 lakh crore in just five years. The per capita income has doubled while there is a sharp increase in the SGDP (State Gross Domestic Product) too," he said.
"Re-election as leader of the legislature party has come with a big responsibility. The onus is now on us to strengthen the base of good governance. The next five years will be a tough exam for us as we are expected to implement the government schemes. Every word we have written in our election manifesto needs to be implemented. We will fulfill all the promises we have made during the election campaign," Yogi said.