Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav expanded his Cabinet and included 12 new faces in his government. Governor Ram Naik administered oath to the Ministers, including two Cabinet, two Ministers of State with independent charge, and eight ministers of State.
After Saturday’s expansion of Akhilesh's cabinet which was fifth in his term, the total strength of his ministry is 58.
But the newsmaker of the day in during the oath taking ceremony in Lucknow, remained former union minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, belonging to Moga in Punjab, who was included as Cabinet minister despite the fact that he had not joined the Samajwadi Party till Friday night.
Going by what he told the media, he is yet to join the party. The SAD leader is not a member of either of the Houses in Uttar Pradesh.
“My inclusion should not surprise people as I have long association with Mulayam Singh who offered me this position last night. I will work for the development of the State,” he said. Mr. Ramoowalia was Union minister for labour welfare in 1996 as Rajya Sabha member and was two- time Lok Sabha member.
The new face besides Mr. Ramoowalia in the Akhilesh cabinet is Sahib Singh Saini. The new Ministers with MoS rank are Radheshyam Singh, Shailendra Yadav, Hemraj Verma, Omkar Singh Yadav, Sudhir Rawat, Laxmikant and Bansidhar Baudh. Interestingly, Tej Narain Pandey who was earlier sacked over allegation of corruption and illegal mining is back as MoS.
Controversy The oath taking ceremony was not without its share of controversy. Governor Ram Naik stopped those present in the Raj Bhawan from singing of national anthem midway to make people take 'unity pledge' as it was the anniversary of Sardar Patel. The Governor's move led to widespread criticism.
