Yogi Adityanath to be elected leader of BJP legislature party today in presence of Amit Shah, Raghubar Das

Lucknow: Yogi Adityanath will be formally elected as the leader of the legislature party at a meeting of the newly-elected MLAs of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday.

According to the party sources the meeting, which is scheduled to be held at Lok Bhawan, will be attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who has been nominated as an observer for Uttar Pradesh and co-observer and former Chief Minister of Jharkhand Raghubar Das.

After being elected as the leader, Yogi Adityanath will meet Governor Anandiben Patel and stake his claim to form the government in the state. The swearing-in ceremony will most likely be held on Friday at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium in Gomti Nagar.

Caretaker UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had discussed the government formation in the state with the top BJP leadership here. Sources said that the meeting held on Wednesday night, which lasted for more than two hours, at BJP chief JP Nadda`s residence was also attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the party`s national general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh.

"Names and the number of Deputy Chief Ministers were discussed in the meeting." sources said. "There are over a dozen vacancies as some sitting Ministers lost the elections, while a few left the party before the polls. While finalising the names, social engineering and regional balance will be also considered," a party insider said.

According to BJP sources, the new Yogi Cabinet is likely to have several new faces and first-time ministers. Names of 43 MLAs have been finalised who are likely to be inducted as ministers in the new Yogi cabinet. 

Some influential ministers in the previous Yogi Adityanath may not be given any ministerial berths this time, the sources said. The selection of new ministers has been done purely on a merit basis - performance in the previous government and their clean public image, the sources said.

The BJP and its allies have won 273 seats out of 403 in the Vidhan Sabha. The party has set a record as after a gap of 37 years the BJP will form the government for the second consecutive term.

Besides, Yogi Adityanath has also set a personal record of being the only chief minister to win an election and enjoy a second consecutive term. A five-time MP from Gorakhpur, Yogi Adityanath has been elected for the first from Gorakhpur (Sadar) seat in the just-concluded Assembly polls in the state.

He was elected to the state legislative council on September 8, 2017, after he became chief minister. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Nadda, Union Ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and others, along with the Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states and some prominent leaders and personalities have been invited for Adityanath's swearing-in ceremony.

(With Agency Inputs)