In rejig,CM tries to set caste equation right

Their portfolios are yet to be announced. The new faces in ministry are Narad Rai and Kailash Yadav. Minister of State for Dairy Development Ram Murti Verma was elevated as a Cabinet minister while Minister of State for Mining Gayatri Prasad Prajapati was given independent charge.

The ceremony began 45 minute late from the scheduled time of 10 am as Ram Murti Verma,who was in Ambedkar Nagar,could not reach on time.

Political compulsions and caste equations dictated the exercise.

Among the new ministers,Narad Rai is MLA from Ballia Nagar Assembly seat in Ballia. With him,now there are three Cabinet ministers from Ballia,the other two being Ramgovind Choudhary and Ambika Choudhary.

Rai,who is a Bhumihar by caste,was Minister of State in the previous Mulayam Singh Yadav regime. Ballia MP Neeraj Shekhar had advocated appointment of Rai as a minister for setting the caste equations right in Ballia for the Lok Sabha election. Kailash Yadav represents Jangipur seat in Ghazipur and is regarded as senior leader among Yadavs of the eastern region of the state. A three-term MLA,Kailash was also a minister of state in the previous Mulayam Singh Yadav government.

Since Ghazipur already had a Thakur minister,Om Prakash Singh,and a Brahmin minister,Vijay Kumar Mishra,the Yadavs in the area felt left out. Kailash was inducted to placate the Yadavs who are core voters of the SP.

Minister of State for Dairy Development Ram Murti Verma,who has been elevated as Cabinet minister,represents Akbarpur Assembly seat in Ambedkar Nagar district. He becomes the lone Kurmi minister with a Cabinet rank. A first-time MLA,Verma has also been named SP candidate for Ambedkar Nagar Lok Sabha seat by the SP. His elevation is seen as an attempt to project him as a Kurmi leader against Union Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma,who has lately become active in Ambedkar Nagar.

Minister of State for Mining Gayatri Prasad Prajapati,who has been promoted as Minister of State (independent charge),is a first-time MLA from Amethi. His elevation is seen as a move to influence the Most Backward Class (MBC) voters.

With the expansion,the Akhilesh ministry now has a strength of 58 which includes 21 Cabinet ministers,including the CM,and 37 Ministers of State.