Yogi Adityanath sworn in as 21st CM of UP

Five-time Parliamentarian and BJP’s firebrand leader Yogi Adityanath (44) was sworn in as the 21st Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma were sworn in as Deputy Chief Ministers.
They were administered the oath to the office and secrecy by Governor Ram Naik at oath taking ceremony held in Kanshiram Smriti Upvan in Lucknow.
Besides them 47-member council of ministers consisting of 22 cabinet ministers, 9 ministers of state (MoS) with independent charge and 13 ministers of states (MoS) also took oath.  The cabinet has 5 female ministers and 1 Muslim Minster, Mohsin Raza.

About Yogi Adityanath

• Mahant Yogi Adityanath was born as Ajay Singh Bisht on 5 June 1972 in Panchur, Pauri Garhwal district in then undivided Uttar Pradesh (now in Uttarakhand).
• He had renounced his family at the age of 21 and became a disciple of Mahant Avaidyanath, then the head priest of Gorakhnath Math.
• He was promoted to the rank of Mahant of Guru Gorakhnath Temple, following the death of his spiritual father Mahant Aavaidyanath on 12 September 2014. He is also the founder of the Hindu Yuva Vahini
• He was elected as a MP of Lok Sabha from the Gorakhpur Constituency, Uttar Pradesh for five consecutive terms (1998, 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014). He was the youngest member of the 12th Lok Sabha at 26.

Background

Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) had won the 17th Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election by winning 312 seats of the total 403 seats. BJP’s allies Apna Dal (Sonelal) and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party won 9 and 4 seats respectively. Samajwadi Party had won 47 seats, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) won 19 seats and Congress had won 7 seats. The election was held from 11 February to 8 March 2017 in 7 phases with voter turnout of 60-61% compared to 59.48% in 2012 elections.

Month: Current Affairs - March, 2017