Yogi Adityanath was unanimously elected as the leader of the legislature party in Uttar Pradesh (UP) on Thursday, 24 March in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and former Chief Minister of Jharkhand Raghubar Das.
Former deputy Chief Ministers Dinesh Sharma and KP Maurya were also among the attendees of the high-level Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislature meet in Lucknow.
"For the first time, a CM has completed his 5-year tenure and the party has come to power again for the second time in UP. This has happened for the first time. It has happened under the guidance and leadership of PM Modi," the CM-designate stated.
"I had no administrative experience in 2017, PM Modi guided me on good governance in UP," Adityanath said, as per news agency PTI.
He further added that the prime minister's mantra of 'sabka saath, sabka vikas' made impact despite opposition propaganda. Festivals can now be celebrated in UP in peaceful manner, he added.
After being elected as the leader, Adityanath met with UP Governor Anandiben Patel to stake his claim to form the government in the state, news agency PTI reported.
The caretaker CM had discussed the formation of the new government in the state with the BJP leadership in Delhi on Wednesday.
Adityanath had reached Delhi after attending the swearing-in ceremony of the Pushkar Singh Dhami government in Uttarakhand on Wednesday afternoon.
The meeting, which lasted for more than two hours, was held on Wednesday night at BJP chief JP Nadda's residence, reported IANS, quoting sources.
According to the report, the meeting was also attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the party's National General Secretary (Organisation) BL Santhosh.
"Names and the number of deputy chief ministers were discussed in the meeting. We have come to know that both the current deputy CMs will be retained," sources said.
The names of ministers were also discussed after reviewing the performance of the ministers in the previous government, the report said.
Oath-Taking Ceremony on Friday
The swearing-in ceremony will be held on Friday at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium in Gomti Nagar.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Nadda, Union Ministers Shah, Rajnath Singh and others, along with the chief ministers of the BJP-ruled states and some prominent leaders and personalities have been invited for the swearing-in ceremony.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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