Yogi Cabinet expansion on the cards, will bring in RLD, SBSP

SBSP chief Om Rajbhar expected to join an RLD and a BJP nominee in Cabinet, expansion of Council of Ministers also likely, as Lucknow sees a spree of meetings

Written by Vikas Pathak

New Delhi | March 1, 2024 07:52 PM IST

2 min read

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. (Express file photo by Vishal Srivastava)

With the formal announcement of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) joining the NDA slated to happen soon, there are strong indications of an expansion of the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet and Council of Ministers to accommodate the new ally.

In what is being seen as a sign that such an expansion is on the cards, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) leader Om Prakash Rajbhar met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday. The CM himself met Governor Anandiben Patel twice during the day.

Highly placed sources in the state government said that once the RLD’s alliance with the BJP is formally announced, the Cabinet expansion that follows will not just see an RLD nominee but also Rajbhar being sworn in as a Cabinet minister. The expansion is also likely to see an additional minister being sworn in from the BJP. There is also strong buzz that the Council of Ministers as a whole will be expanded further, with one or two ministers of state also sworn in.

“We cannot tell the name of the person from the RLD who will be made a minister. Once Jayant Chaudhary formally becomes an NDA ally, he will select his party’s nominee or nominees. This will be the next step after the formal announcement of an alliance,” said the source.

The BJP is also expected to leave two seats for the RLD for the Lok Sabha elections and one seat for the SBSP, along with one-two seats for the Apna Dal and a seat for the Nishad Party.

Vikas Pathak

Vikas Pathak is deputy associate editor with The Indian Express and writes on national politics. He has over 17 years of experience, and has worked earlier with The Hindustan Times and The Hindu, among other publications. He has covered the national BJP, some key central ministries and Parliament for years, and has covered the 2009 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls and many state assembly polls. He has interviewed many Union ministers and Chief Ministers. Vikas has taught as a full-time faculty member at Asian College of Journalism, Chennai; Symbiosis International University, Pune; Jio Institute, Navi Mumbai; and as a guest professor at Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi. Vikas has authored a book, Contesting Nationalisms: Hinduism, Secularism and Untouchability in Colonial Punjab (Primus, 2018), which has been widely reviewed by top academic journals and leading newspapers. He did his PhD, M Phil and MA from JNU, New Delhi, was Student of the Year (2005-06) at ACJ and gold medalist from University Rajasthan College in Jaipur in graduation. He has been invited to top academic institutions like JNU, St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and IIT Delhi as a guest speaker/panellist. ... Read More

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Om Prakash Rajbhar Political Pulse Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath