- By Surarika Das
- Sun, 10 May 2026 07:56 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
The Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party government is set to expand its cabinet to factor in caste and regional equations as the 2027 Assembly elections are knocking at the door. On Saturday, UP CM Adityanath met Governor Anandiben Patel at her official bungalow to discuss making a cabinet expansion in the state.
Who Are The Expected Faces
According to the reports, ministers who are expected to get cabinet seats are Puja Pal from Allahabad West and Manoj Pandey from Unchahar. The two were suspended from the Samajwadi Party in 2025 after they voted for the BJP in the Rajya Sabha election. Afterwards, the two leaders directly extended their support to the saffron party, and the SP remained silent.
Paul and Pandey have not yet been suspended from the Samajwadi Party. The party chief, Akhilesh Yadav, did not seem interested in removing them. The party, therefore, did not write to cancel their membership.
Other fresh faces include Krishna Paswan, the MLA from Kharga in Fatehpur district, and Bhupendra Chaudhary, an MLC and former state BJP president.
In the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly, the maximum strength of the council of ministers can be 60. At present, six seats are vacant.
When asked about possible expansion, SP chief Yadav said, “Law and order is completely out of control in the state. Anarchy is at its peak. Whatever the government is doing is going against the people.”
A Jan Bhavan communique described the meeting between the governor and the chief minister as a courtesy call and said Yogi presented a book titled “Bharatiya Gyan Parampara Avdharana” to the governor.