Yogi Adityanath took oath as Uttar Pradesh's chief minister along with 45 ministers.
Highlights
- BJP's Yogi Adityanath takes oath as UP Chief Minister in Lucknow
- PM Modi, party chief Amit Shah, several union ministers attending event
- BJP won a huge majority in state elections this month
Yogi Adityanath, 44, was sworn in as Uttar Pradesh's new Chief Minister on Sunday afternoon along with two deputy chief ministers and 44 other ministers. Soon after, he detailed his priorities at a conference - law and order, he said, was the top priority - calling the BJP's massive win in the UP assembly elections a "big mandate for vikas (development) and sushashan (good governance)." The priest-politician, accused by critics of being a polarising leader, said his government "will work for all sections of the society without any discrimination." He would work he said to fulfill all promises made by the BJP in its vision document ahead of the elections.
Here are the 10 latest developments in this big story:
The new chief minister held a cabinet meeting immediately after taking charge and has as a first move asked all his ministers to submit to him details of their assets and wealth within 15 days.
On the massive stage at Lucknow's 96-acre Smriti Upwan where Yogi Adityanath took oath sat Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tweeted, "I have immense confidence that this new team will leave no stone unturned in making UP Uttam Pradesh. There will be record development."
Yogi Adityanath's predecessor Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav were spotted talking to PM Modi at the mega event, planned as a show of strength by the BJP.
Also at the oath ceremony were BJP chief Amit Shah, several union ministers and BJP Chief Ministers and veteran leaders like LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi. Almost one lakh people attended the ceremony.
Yogi Adityanath has as his deputies Keshav Prasad Maurya, the BJP's chief in UP and Dinesh Sharma, who has been Lucknow Mayor for many years.
Other prominent party leaders sworn in as ministers are Swami Prasad Maurya, Satish Mahana, Rajesh Agarwal, Ashutosh Tandon, Chetan Chauhan, Sidharth Nath Singh and Rita Bahuguna Joshi, recently imported from the Congress.
Former cricketer Mohsin Raza is the Muslim face of the new UP cabinet. The BJP fielded no Muslim candidate in this year's assembly election in UP and Mr Raza will have to - like Yogi Adityanath and his deputy chief ministers - contest an assembly seat within six months or get elected to UP's legislative council.
Top BJP leaders were engaged till the last minute in ensuring a balanced cabinet with representation for all castes, communities and social groups that voted for the BJP, helping it win a mammoth 312 of UP's 403 seats - 325 along with allies.
Yogi Adityanath, a five-time member of parliament from Gorakhpur in UP, is also the head priest of the Gorakhnath temple in his constituency. He is seen as the hardline Hindutva face of the BJP in the state and had so far made headlines mostly for the controversial comments he made.
Yogi Adityanath became India's youngest parliamentarian in 1998 after being elected at the age of 26 from Gorakhpur. He belongs to Uttarakhand and was called Ajay Singh Bisht before he became a priest and took the name Yogi Adityanath.
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