Uttar Pradesh Expands Yogi Adityanath Cabinet, Inducts 6 New Ministers

Uttar Pradesh expanded its council of ministers on Sunday, inducting two Cabinet Ministers — Bhupendra Chaudhary and Manoj Pandey — and four new State Ministers, while promoting two others to Minister of State with independent charge. The swearing-in ceremony was held at Jan Bhavan, with Governor Anandiben Patel administering the oaths.

The new Cabinet Ministers are former BJP state president Bhupendra Chaudhary and SP rebel-turned-independent MLA Manoj Pandey. Chaudhary, now also an MLC, is seen as a strategic pick to consolidate Jat support in western UP. Pandey, a three-time MLA from Unchahar, had previously served in the Akhilesh Yadav government and supported the BJP in recent Rajya Sabha polls.

Among the promoted, Somendra Tomar and Ajit Pal Singh were given independent charge of energy and science and technology, respectively. The new State Ministers are Krishna Paswan (Pasi community), Surendra Diler (Valmiki community), Hansraj Vishwakarma, and Kailash Rajput — all MLAs representing diverse caste and regional bases.

The expansion brings the total number of ministers to 60 — 23 Cabinet Ministers, 16 Ministers of State with independent charge, and 21 State Ministers — hitting the 15% cap mandated by the 91st Constitutional Amendment. Before this, the council had 54 members.

The government will now finalize departmental allocations, with political observers noting the reshuffle is aimed at strengthening the BJP's outreach ahead of the 2027 assembly elections.