Maya, 49 ministers sworn in

LUCKNOW: Ending long years of fractured mandates and tottering, short-lived governments, the daughter of a telecom department clerk Mayawati took oath as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for a record fourth time.

She was administered the oath of office by Governor TV Rajeswar on Sunday amidst cheers and slogan shouting by her party workers. Forty-nine ministers were also sworn in. Interestingly, Mayawati who rode to power with the support of Brahmins along with the solid backing of her traditional Dalit vote bank, inducted more upper-caste ministers in the Cabinet than Dalits.

The Cabinet, which has 19 ministers, comprises eight OBCs, six upper-caste leaders and four dalits, besides a Muslim. The lone Muslim Cabinet minister Nassemuddin Siddiqui was the first to be sworn in after Mayawati, as Rajya Sabha member SC Mishra took seat behind Mayawati, being the only BSP leader seated on the stage besides Mayawati.

Clearly, Mayawati has tried to give representation to all from the rainbow caste coalition she has managed to bring together. By giving more Cabinet berths to the upper castes among them, the Brahmins, she has tried to send out the message that their interests are secure in her regime, which was otherwise known for its aggressive Dalit agenda during her three stints as chief minister earlier.

Interestingly, majority of the ministers from both the upper castes, OBCs and Dalits touched Maywati’s feet, a Hindu act of much significance in the cow belt. However, many Brahmin ministers did not touch her feet, but only bowed low with a humble ‘namaste’.

Another interesting aspect was the swearing in of a large number of ministers of state with independent charge. Here, however, Mayawati catered to her loyal vote bank of Dalits making nine leaders from the community ministers.

Prominent among those who were made Cabinet ministers are Nassemuddin Siddiqui, Ramveer Upadhyay, Lalji Verma, Indrajeet Saroj, Sukhdev Rajbhar, Jagdish Narain Rai, Phagu Chauhan, Nakul Dubey, Sudhir Goel, Swami Prasad Maurya and Rakesh Dhar Tripathi.