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Former Governor of Uttarakhand Baby Rani Maurya on Friday was sworn in as a Cabinet Minister in the new Yogi Adityanath Cabinet at Ekana Stadium on Friday.
She had contested from the Agra rural Assembly seat in the recently concluded Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Maurya has also been the first woman Mayor of Agra. Baby Maurya is among the five women ministers sworn in on Friday. A total of 52 ministers took the oath of office, including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The other woman ministers who took oath included Gulab Devi, Pratibha Shukla, Rajani Tiwari, and Vijay Laxmi Gautam. Maurya is believed to have a stronghold in the Agra belt which has previously been a bastion of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). The move is significant as the BJP looks to extend its reach among the scheduled castes after Swamy Prasad Maurya left the party and joined the Samajwadi Party weeks ahead of the commencement of the Assembly elections in the state. Since 2014, the BJP has been seeking to make inroads in the core vote bank of the BSP. Earlier today, Yogi Adityanath took oath for his second consecutive term as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and several Union Ministers were present at the grand ceremony in Lucknow's Ekana Stadium. Chief Ministers of the BJP ruled states and party leaders also attended the oath-taking ceremony. Yogi was sworn in by Governor Anandiben Patel in a jam-packed Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium having a crowd of more than 50,000 in attendance. (ANI)
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