Akhilesh expands his cabinet, inducts five more ministers

UP Governor Ram Naik administered oath to two cabinet ministers Balram Yadav and Narad Rai while Ravi Das Mehrotra and Sharda Pratap Shukla were sworn-in as Ministers of State (independent charge). Another cabinet minister Ziauddin Rizvi, MLC from Ballia, will be sworn-in as the cabinet minister on July 10 next as currently he is out of country, it is officially learnt.

The senior SP leader Shiv Pal Singh Yadav ,said to be unhappy over the recent decision to revoke merger of Quammi Ekta Dal in SP, was absent in the ceremony. Shiv Pal is reportedly in Etawah and will return to the state capital in the evening, party sources said.

It marked re-induction of Balram Yadav, who was sacked on June 21 last following his pro-active role in the merger of mafia-turned politician Mukhtar Ansari's Qaumi Ekta Dal (QED) in the Samajwadi Party, later abandoned,

Highlights:

• It is seventh cabinet expansion of four year old Akhilesh government
• Samajwadi party had inducted five cabinet ministers, 8 ministers of state with independent charge and eight ministers of state in its last expansion on October 31, 2015.
• This expansion has come soon after SP, on Saturday revoked its merger with gangster-turned politician Mukhtar Ansari’s QED.
• There were reports of Balram Yadav’s son to be inducted in the cabinet, but when the party announced that Balram would be included again in the cabinet, his son’s name was withdrawn.

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