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CM Yogi inducts six new ministers in UP govt; balances caste, regional equations
On May 10, 2026, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expanded his cabinet, inducting six cabinet ministers and elevating six ministers of state (including two with independent-charge portfolios). The inductees come from Brahmin, OBC and Dalit communities, spanning West, Central and East Uttar Pradesh, as part of a caste-regional balancing strategy ahead of the 2027 assembly elections.
Why It Matters
The expansion is viewed as a move to fine-tune socio-political equations in BJP's favour ahead of the 2027 UP assembly elections and to counter the opposition's PDA formula.
Timeline
1 Event
Oath of office administered to new and elevated UP ministers
May 10, 2026
Governor Anandiben Patel administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new cabinet ministers and the ministers of state (including those elevated to MOS with independent charge) at Jan Bhavan in Lucknow on Sunday afternoon. The six cabinet ministers sworn in were Bhupendra Chaudhary (Moradabad, West UP) and Manoj Pandey (Unchahar, Rae Bareli) together with four ministers of state: Krishna Paswan (Khaga, Fatehpur), Kailash Rajput (Tirwa, Kannauj), Surendra Diler (Khair, Aligarh) and Hansraj Vishwakarma (Varanasi district BJP president). Elevation to MOS (independent charge) included Ajit Pal (science and technology, electronics and IT) and Somendra Tomar (energy and additional sources of energy); both were sworn in and are expected to be assigned portfolios soon. Chaudhary was the first to be sworn in. Among the six cabinet ministers, two are from West UP, one from East UP and three from Central UP; Paswan’s inclusion raises the number of women in the Yogi ministry to five. The expansion increases the cabinet to 23, MoS (independent charge) to 16 and MoS to 21, bringing the total strength to 60 in the state ministry.