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Lucknow: Months ahead of 2027 Assembly polls, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is all set to expand his cabinet on Sunday. The Chief Minister is likely to meet Anandiben Patel on Saturday evening before the swearing-in of new ministers.

According to India Today, six new ministers are likely to take the oath on Sunday. Among the names doing the rounds are Manoj Pandey, Bhupendra Chaudhary, Hansraj Vishwakarma, Pooja Pal, and Krishna Paswan. One Minister of State is also likely to be promoted to a cabinet minister’s rank.

Among the likely ministers, Bhupendra Chaudhary, a former Uttar Pradesh BJP chief, is a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC). Manoj Pandey, on the other hand, is a Brahmin face of the party and MLA from Unchahar in Rae Bareli. Before joining the BJP, he was part of the Samajwadi Party.

Pooja Pal, who is also among the probables, is an OBC leader and MLA from Chayal in Kaushambi. She too was part of Samajwadi Party earlier. A Gurjar OBC leader and MLC from Bijnor, Ashok Kataria, may also find a place in the cabinet.

Apart from them, two leaders from the Pasi community, Krishna Paswan and Suresh Pasi, are also likely to take the oath. While Krishna Paswan is an MLA from Khaga in Fatehpur, Suresh Pasi is an MLA from Jagdishpur in Amethi. While there are 54 ministers in the cabinet now, the maximum permissible limit in 60.

As per reports, the upper caste, non-Yadav OBC, extremely backward, and non-Jatav vote banks are likely to be given special consideration in the cabinet expansion. The reshuffle is being done to unite these categories, with an effort to reconcile the strong vote bank that existed before 2024.