All eyes on UP as Yogi Adityanath, ministers to take oath on Friday

Vibha Sharma

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New Delhi, March 23

All eyes on Uttar Pradesh where Yogi Adityanath and his ministers take the oath in a “grand ceremony” in the Ekana Stadium on Friday following a legislative party meeting on Thursday in presence of observer, Home Minister Amit Shah.

With stakes running high, the ceremony in Lucknow is being seen as a “messaging” for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in which the state’s 80 MPs play an important role.

The capital city is being spruced up for the official ceremony at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium when Adityanath takes oath for the second term in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, top BJP leaders, chief ministers, and other dignitaries, including members of the ‘sant samaj’.

While the names of the new council are being kept under a tight wrap, observers expect it to be “inclusive” keeping in mind caste and regional combinations. OBCs, especially non-Yadav OBCs who are believed to have contributed substantially to the Samajwadi Party’s increase in vote share in the recently concluded Assembly elections, are expected to get a good representation in the new council.

Several names, including “those who lost Assembly elections and MLCs” are doing the rounds.

For the BJP, the return of Adityanath—the first Chief Minister in 37 years to do so after completing a full term—is heartening. Though the party also increased its vote share over last year, the direct fight with Akhilesh Yadav also saw it drop 57 seats from the tally of 2017 elections. With Akhilesh Yadav, who has already resigned his Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat, planning to concentrate full time on the state, observers say the saffron side needs to be cautious about the consolidation of the anti-BJP votes.

The BJP retained power by winning 255 out of 403 constituencies, securing 41. 29 percent votes, up by 1.62 percent from the 2017 elections. NDA allies together won 273 with a vote share of 43.82 percent. On the other hand, the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP won 111 seats and the alliance led by it 125 constituencies, a jump of 73 from 2017. The SP’s individual best performance ever saw it gather 32.06 percent votes, a rise of 10.24 percent over 2017.

Sacrifice necessary: Akhilesh

Akhilesh Yadav, who resigned from the Lok Sabha to retain Karhal Assembly constituency, today said the “sacrifice” was necessary to carry out the struggle against “inflation, unemployment and social injustice”.

“By giving us a moral victory in the Assembly polls, crores of people of UP have given us the direction to continue the ‘jan andolan’. To honour it, I will represent Karhal and always remain committed to the progress of Azamgarh. The sacrifice is necessary for the struggle against inflation, unemployment and social injustice,” he said

Speculations are that Akhilesh may become the leader of the opposition in the state Assembly. The party has called a meeting of newly elected MLAs and MLCs on March 26, a day after the swearing-in ceremony of the Adityanath government. The SP chief also needs to keep his flock together amid speculations about Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party chief OP Rajbhar cosying up to the BJP.