Seven days after the U.P. Assembly election results, the Bharatiya Janata Party chose Yogi Adityanath as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister-designate.
Adityanath will be the 21st chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and the fourth from the saffron party.
A strong votary of construction of the Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya, Adityanath drove BJP’s Hindutva campaign in the eastern UP in the just concluded Assembly polls.
Updates:
8.40 p.m.:
He will be sworn in tomorrow at a ceremony at Kanshiram Smriti Upvan at 2.15 p.m. where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah will be present.
8.30 p.m.: CM designate Yogi Adityanath meets governor Ram Naik, claims stake to form the government. - ANI
8.00 p.m.: Venkaiah Naidu speaks at a press conference: This win in Uttar Pradesh is historic. It is a watershed moment in the history of the Bharatiya Janata Party because the BJP has become not only a national party but a common man's party. The UP message is very clear. The message is, the country wants to move with Modi. This message mandate is for development.
“Mandate is for development, mandate is against corruption, against black money...,” he said, with the Yogi by his side.
“This mandate is against caste politics, religous politics and vote bank politics,” he said, noting that all the five regions in UP and all communities had overwhlemingly voted for the saffron party.
7.00 p.m.: Confirmation is in. Yogi Adityanath to be the next Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Keshav Maurya and Dinesh Sharma are to be the State's deputy CMs, reports Omar Rashid.
Newly elected leader of BJP Legislature Party, Yogi Adityanath, designated as new Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, arrives to attend the meeting prior to his designation as new Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in Lucknow on Saturday.
6.30 p.m.: Six faces found a place on the BJP’s hoardings in Uttar Pradesh — Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Uma Bharti and Kalraj Mishra and party MP Keshub Maurya.
Five-time MP from Gorakhpur Yogi Adityanath, whose aggressive campaigning style is in sync with that of his leadership, was not among them, writes our correspondent Smita Gupta.
Read the profile of Yogi Adityanath here.
6.20 p.m.: ANI, which tweeted that Yogi Adityanath had been named the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister designate, has withdrawn its statement saying there has been no official announcement yet.
6.10 p.m.: With the BJP leadership often springing a surprise with its choice of state leaders like Manohar Lal Khattar in Haryana, Vijay Rupani in Gujarat and now Trivendra Singh Rawat in Uttarakhand, sources have said that a relatively lesser known leader cannot be ruled out, says PTI.
6.00 p.m.: Yogi Adityanath supporters shout his name at Lok Bhawan gate.
5.55 p.m.: ANI UP reports that slogans in favour of Yogi Adityanath are being raised in MLA meet, his name for CM & Dinesh Sharma's name for Deputy CM being discussed, according to sources.
5.40 p.m.: Mayor of Lucknow and another CM probable, Dinesh Sharma, is also part of the meeting.
5.30 p.m.: Minister of State for Communications (Independent Charge) Manoj Sinha was speculated to be the party's choice. But our correspondent Vijaita Singh reports that, according to sources, Mr. Sinha was ousted at the last moment as there was huge pressure from BJP cadre who wanted Yogi Adityanath.
5.15 p.m: The buzz is that five-time BJP Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath might be selected as the CM candidate.
5.10 p.m.: Home Minister Rajnath Singh has been kept in the loop on the decision. Mr. Singh was also being seen as one of the contenders for the post along with BJP State unit chief Keshav Prasad Maurya, who was admitted to Ram Manohar Lohia hospital with low blood pressure and attendant complaints on Thursday.
5 p.m.: The BJP legislature meeting is still ongoing, reports our correspondent Omar Rashid.
