While BJP has retained Keshav Prasad Maurya as Yogi’s deputy despite his defeat, prominent names like Ashutosh ‘Gopal’ Tandon, Mahendra Singh, Shrikant Sharma and Sidharth Nath Singh have been dropped. Among other prominent faces in the ministry are former Gujarat-cadre IAS officer and PM Modi’s trusted bureaucrat AK Sharma who has been appointed as cabinet minister and Kanpur police commissioner and 1994-batch IPS officer, Asim Arun, who is one of the 14 junior ministers with independent charge.
Just like last time, the ministry included only five women, including the party’s prominent Jatav face and former Uttarakhand governor Baby Rani Maurya. It is, however, possible that like the previous time, more women be inducted later on. Right now Yogi has space to add atleast 8 more ministerial colleagues.
