Yogi Adityanath
will take oath as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh on Friday riding on his
resounding success in the recently-concluded Assembly elections. A grandiose
swearing-in ceremony is expected for the monk-turned-politician taking charge
of India’s biggest state for the second time in a row, a feat unachieved in the
last three decades.

Ahead of the
ceremony, the Gorakhpur (urban) MLA chaired a meeting with several senior
members of the Uttar Pradesh BJP which has triggered speculation about the
composition of the state cabinet.

With all eyes on
which MLAs find cabinet posts and who gets what portfolio, here are the likely
members in contest:

Baby Rani
Maurya: Baby Rani Maurya,
65, was serving as the Governor of Uttarakhand when the party decided to field her
in the Assembly elections from Agra. She quit her post to return to the constituency
of which she had been the first woman mayor from 1995 to 2000. Maurya is one of
the most prominent Scheduled Caste leaders from the BJP, and as such, might
just land a cabinet post.

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Jitin
Prasada: Once considered
very close to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Jitin Prasada jumped ship to the
BJP months before the Uttar Pradesh elections and immediately secured a
ministerial berth. With a new cabinet coming into being, Prasada, is set to retain
a ministerial berth.

AK Sharma: A former bureaucrat, Sharma is said to be close to
Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative
Council until getting elected to the Assembly. While his terms with Chief
Minister Yogi Adityanath are reportedly not the best, the Uttar Pradesh government
may decide to use his administrative experience in cabinet functioning.

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Asim Arun: Another former civil servant, Asim Arun quit his Indian
Police Service (IPS) job to join the BJP and contest the Assembly elections.
Having won from Kannauj, Asim Arun may find himself in Yogi Adityanath’s cabinet.

Swatantra Dev
Singh: BJP’s Uttar
Pradesh chief, Swatantra Dev Singh is one of the most powerful people within the
party configuration. He is also one of the most prominent Other Backward
Classes (OBC) leader from Uttar Pradesh. If caste configurations play a role
along with party dynamics, Swatantra Dev Singh could indeed land a cabinet job.

The Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) secured a massive victory in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly
elections. The party won 255 seats out of 403. While the number is lower than
2017’s 312, this itself is a big deal because Uttar Pradesh hardly ever returns
an incumbent government to power.