By IANS
Lucknow : Keeping the possibility of early Lok Sabha polls in mind, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Wednesday inducted six new faces in her council of ministers, taking its strength from 47 to 53. Four ministers of state were elevated to the cabinet rank.
The new entrants are: Nand Kumar Gupta, Kamla Kant Gautam, Chandradev Ram Yadav, Bhagwati Prasad Sagar, Ashok Kumar and Jaiveer Singh.
Anant Misra, who was holding independent charge of the health portfolio as a minister of state, was elevated to the cabinet rank, along with Rang Nath Misra, Badshah Singh and Abdul Mannan, who were also ministers of state with independent charge.
Governor T.V. Rajeshwar swore in eight cabinet ministers and two ministers of state with independent charge at a simple ceremony at the Raj Bhawan here in the evening.
Both caste and regional factors were clearly taken into consideration while selecting the new faces that included three scheduled caste leaders, one Thakur, one Vaishya and one from the Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
Anant Misra is a cousin of Satish Misra, a close confidante of Mayawati and national general secretary of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
Anant Misra had lost the state assembly election in April-May, but won a subsequent bye-election from Farrukhabad. His elevation, along with that of Rang Nath Misra is seen as Mayawati’s yet another move to woo Brahmins, with whose support her BSP managed to win the last assembly elections.
The new ministers come from those parts of the state not represented in the ministry.
The exclusion of Kazim Ali Khan, who was seen as a hot aspirant was a surprise for political observers. Scion of the erstwhile princely family of Rampur, Khan is the son of well-known Congress leader Begum Noor Bano, former Lok Sabha member from Rampur.
After the brief swearing-in ceremony, Mayawati remained closeted with the governor and declined to speak to the media.