After its massive win in the recently concluded Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, the BJP has started preparations for the next Lok Sabha polls and the first step in this direction is likely to be seen in the composition of the new UP cabinet.
According to sources in the BJP, the names of the prospective ministers have been finalised in consultation with the central leaders of the party during their meetings with the incumbent chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
Sources said that Adityanath could be sworn in as the CM before the Holi festival.
Although unclear if the two deputy CM's Keshav Prasad Maurya, who lost the polls from Sirathu seat, and Dinesh Sharma would be included in the cabinet, some are saying that the cabinet could have three deputy CM's as opposed to the previous cabinet's two.
''The new cabinet will have around 60 ministers, including cabinet and ministers of state.....caste considerations will play a role in the selection of the ministers,'' said a senior BJP leader here who was privy to the discussions between Adityanath and the central leadership in Delhi.
The names for the post of the deputy CMs making the rounds here, included state BJP president Swatantra Dev Singh, former Uttarakhand governor Baby Rani Maurya and former Gujarat cadre bureaucrat A.K.Sharma, who is considered to be a close aide of PM Narendra Modi.
The cabinet would be formed with the next Lok Sabha polls in its sights, the BJP leader added. ''The next LS polls are due in two years time.....the party will prefer to have a cabinet which represents every caste, especially those, which have sided with the party in the recent assembly polls,'' the BJP leader said.
While the three deputy CMs might be from Brahmin, OBC and Thakur communities, Jats, Dalits and Gujjar communities would get adequate representation in the cabinet, sources added.
One member each from the Apna Dal and Nishad Party, which had contested the assembly polls in alliance with the BJP, could also get a place in the new government, sources said.
A BJP leader said that the party planned to make the swearing-in ceremony of Adityanath cabinet a big event and therefore it could be held at the Ikana Stadium in the state capital.
BJP had won 273 seats with its alliance partners in the assembly polls. The Samajwadi Party (SP) could win 125 seats with its alliance partners. Congress and BSP managed to win two and one seats respectively.
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