Delhi:
Ahead of Uttar Pradesh cabinet expansion, state finance minister Rajesh Agarwal has resigned from his post. “Following the policy of my organisation, I have tendered my resignation from the state cabinet as I have touched 75 years of age. Now it is upto the party to accept it. I'll carry out whatever responsibility will be given to me.,” Rajesh Agarwal said. Earlier, there were reports that had suggested that Agarwal’s name was not part of Yogi Adityanath’s cabinet expansion.
The much-awaited cabinet reshuffle of the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh will take place on Wednesday to fill the slots that have fallen vacant in the last few months, especially after some ministers entered the portals of Lok Sabha.
Adityanath took over the reins of the state in March 2017, and this will be the first expansion of his ministry. Three UP ministers were elected to Parliament in the recent Lok Sabha polls, while one was sacked.
"The oath-taking ceremony will be held on Monday around 11 am at UP Raj Bhavan," a Raj Bhavan official told PTI. However, he declined to state the number of ministers who will take oath on Monday.
On Saturday, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath met Governor Anandiben Patel after he apparently discussed the issue during his meeting with BJP chief Amit Shah in New Delhi. OBC leader and Uttar Pradesh minister Swatantra Dev Singh was appointed as the new state unit chief of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in July and according to the BJP's "one person-one post" principle, Singh cannot simultaneously hold the positions of a minister and the state party chief.
He is currently the minister of state (independent charge) for transport and protocol. The three ministers, who successfully contested the parliamentary polls, are SP Singh Baghel from Agra, Rita Bahuguna Joshi from Allahabad and Satyadev Pachauri from Kanpur.
Disgruntled minister and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) leader O P Rajbhar was sacked by the chief minister for his outburst against his NDA partner, the BJP.
