Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday expressed confidence that the Yogi Adityanath government in its fresh term will write another new chapter of progress in Uttar Pradesh while fulfilling people's aspirations.
Congratulating Adityanath and his ministerial colleagues on taking oath, Modi said the state's development journey marked several important milestones in his government's first five years.
Adityanath on Friday took oath as Uttar Pradesh chief minister for the second term in a mega ceremony attended by Prime Minister Modi and top BJP leaders.
Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak were sworn in as deputy chief ministers along with 50 ministers with cabinet and state ranks.
Adityanath on Friday took oath as Uttar Pradesh chief minister for the second term in a mega ceremony attended by Prime Minister Modi and top BJP leaders. Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak were sworn in as deputy chief ministers along with 50 ministers with cabinet and state ranks.
Adityanath will have two deputies, like in the previous term -. Keshav Maurya and Brajesh Pathak. Besides Adityanath, 27 ministers will be taking oath as ministers. The BJP retained power in UP bagging 255 out of 403 seats with 41.29 per cent vote share.
Adityanath, is the first Chief Minister in 37 years to remain in power after a full term.
Adityanath was an unexpected pick by the BJP for the chief minister's post after the party scored a landslide win in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. A poster boy for Hindutva, saffron-robed Adityanath was considered a rabble-rouser and often accused of making provocative remarks against Muslims.
This time round, his appointment as the CM wasn't much of a surprise. During the assembly poll campaign, BJP bigwigs hailed the success of Adityanath-Narendra Modi double-engine' government in the state over the past five years. And the CM tweeted a telling picture of Modi placing a hand over his shoulders.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah even said Adityanath needed to be back as CM in 2022 if the party sought to return to power at the Centre in 2024. With the Bharatiya Janata Party return to power, the monk-politician has consolidated his place in the organisation.
Some observers predict an even bigger role for him the BJP in coming years, though Adityanath took pains in an address to the MLAs to thank Modi and Shah for their guidance during his first term, when he had no administrative experience.
On Friday, Adityanath, 48, was sworn in as chief minister, becoming the first CM in over three and a half decades to return to power in the state after completing a full five-year term.
Born Ajay Singh Bisht in Pauri Garhwal's Panchur (now Uttarakhand), on June 5, 1972, Adityanath left home in 1990 to join the campaign to build the Ram temple in Ayodhya. He also became a disciple of Mahant Avaidyanath of the Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur.
After Avaidyanath's death in 2014, he took over as the head of the Gorakhnath `math', a post he still holds and makes frequent trip to the eastern UP town. In Gorakhpur, he founded his own band of volunteers, called the Hindu Yuva Vahini.
Adityanath went to school in his native village and later completed his bachelor's degree in Mathematics from Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University.
He entered politics on the directions of his guru in 1998 and at 28 became the youngest Lok Sabha member, winning from Gorakhpur. He went on the represent the parliamentary seat four more times till he became the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh on March 19, 2017. He was then elected to the state legislative council so that he could continue as the CM. In 2022, however, he fought and won the assembly election from Gorakhpur Urban constituency.
As CM, he took decisions that confirmed his image as a Hindutva mascot. Early in the first term, he banned illegal slaughterhouses and the state police cracked down on cow slaughter. But the menace of stray cattle created disquiet among farmers, presenting the Adityanath government with a new challenge.
