In the largest cabinet reshuffle under his tenure so far, UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav elevated 9 ministers and brought in 12 new faces in a move to add young members in his team. In a surprise move, he also roped in former Akali leader from Punjab, Balwant Singh Ramoowalia. “I got the offer from Mulayam Singh. Until yesterday night, I was in SAD, and now as I have taken oath, I will resign and will join the Samajwadi Party,” Ramoowalia said. Five Cabinet ministers, eight Ministers of State with independent charge and seven Ministers of State were administered oath by Governor Ram Naik at Raj Bhawan in Lucknow. This is the sixth Cabinet reshuffle after the Samajwadi Party came to power in 2012. His move came after several ministers faced accusations of inefficiency. The new ministry has more young leaders, keeping in mind the caste dynamics of the state.
Ministers of state, Riyaz Ahmed, Farid Mahmood Kidwai, Mool Chand Chauhan, Ram Sakal Gurjar, Nitin Agarwal and Yasser Shah have been promoted to MOS with independent charge. Amongst ministers of state sworn in are, Radhey Shayam Singh, Shailendra Yadav Lalai, Omkar Singh, Pawan Pandey, Sudhir Kumar Rawat, Laxmikant alias Pappu Nishad and Vanshidhar Baudh.
