Yogi Adityanath of the Bharatiya Janata Party took oath as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for the second consecutive term. Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel administered the oath to Adityanath in a ceremony that was held at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Friday. It was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and BJP national president JP Nadda. Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak also took oath as the Deputy Chief Ministers of the state.

Apart from Yogi and the deputy CMs, Suresh Khanna, Surya Pratap Sahi, Swatandra Dev Singh, Baby Rani Maurya and IAS-turned politician A K Sharma also were administered oath as cabinet ministers. BJP ally Ashish Patel of Apna Dal (Sonelal) and NISHAD party chief Sanjay Nishad also took oath as cabinet ministers. Danish Azad Ansari, who is the lone Muslim face in the Adityanath government, was made a minister of state. 

2022 was Yogi Adityanath’s first Assembly election. He proved to be a star campaigner for the party, holding 131 rallies and roadshows in the state. This seemed to have worked in the party’s favour as the BJP-led alliance had won 273 of 403 seats. While the BJP got 255 seats, its allies Nishad Party and the Apna Dal (S) bagged 18.

The 50-year-old monk made history by becoming the first CM in over three decades to return to power in UP after completing a full five-year term. 

On Thursday, he was unanimously elected the BJP legislature party leader in the state, after which he staked claim to form the government.