Yogi Adityanath keeps home, several key departments

New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh’s new chief minister Adityanath Yogi on Wednesday distributed portfolios among his ministers, keeping with himself the crucial home department, over which there was an apparent tug of war with his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya. The chief minister also kept over three dozen other departments with himself.

Adityanath had on Tuesday met BJP president Amit Shah in the wake of the  purported tussle with his deputy over a key portfolio. The deputy chief minister, who is also the party’s state unit chief, was a strong contender for the chief minister’s post as well.

The CM held two meetings with Mr Shah at the latter’s new Delhi residence. UP BJP organisational secretary Sunil Bansal was also present at the meet, where party leaders discussed portfolio allocations, sources said.

Adityanath also kept the information, housing and urban planning, food and civil supplies, mining, personnel, institutional finance, estate and several other departments according to the list released by governor Ram Naik on Wednesday.

Mr Maurya has been given the public works department (PWD), food processing, entertainment tax and public enterprises. The other deputy CM, Dinesh Sharma, was given higher and secondary education, science and technology, electronics and IT departments.

Members of the BJP’s national team — Siddharth Nath Singh and Srikant Sharma — got the health department and the power ministry respectively.

The key finance portfolio went to Rajesh Agarwal. The lone Muslim face in the council of ministers, Mohsin Raza, got science and technology, electronics, IT, Muslim waqf and Haj.

Among the 22 Cabinet ministers, Surya Pratap Shahi got agriculture and agriculture research, Suresh Kumar Khanna urban development & parliamentary affairs, Swami Prasad Maurya labour, urban employment and poverty alleviation, while Satish Mahana got industrial development.

Rita Bahuguna Joshi, formerly with the Congress, got women and family welfare and women and child development and tourism, while Swati Singh, wife of Dayashankar Singh, who was suspended for abusing Mayawati, got the NRI department, flood control, agriculture export, marketing, women and family welfare and mother and child development departments.

Dara Singh Chauhan was given forest and environment, zoological gardens; Dharampal Singh irrigation; S.P. Singh Baghel fisheries, minor irrigation and animal husbandry while Satyadev Pachauri got khadi, silk and export promotion.

Ramapati Shastri got SC/ST welfare while Jai Prakash Singh got charge of the excise department.