Mayawati along with 49 ministers take oath in UP

Lucknow, May 13 (UNI) Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati was today sworn in as the 33rd Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh at an impressive ceremony in the forecourt of Raj Bhawan along with 49 other ministers.

In the presence of outgoing Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, Assembly speaker Mata Prasad Pandey, Congress state president Salman Khurshid and Congress legislature party leader Pramod Tiwari, in the sprawling lawns of the Raj Bhawaan, Governor T V Rajeshwar administered the oath of office and secrecy to Ms Mayawati and her ministerial colleagues which included 19 Cabinet ministers, 21 ministers of state (Independent charge) and nine ministers of state.

No BJP leader could be seen among the invitees.

Ms Mayawati dressed in her favourite pink suit took the oath for the fourth time as the Chief Minister of the state while party General Secretary Satish Chandra Mishra stood behind her.

After the oath ceremony, Ms Mayawati, went to meet her family members, including her parents and brothers, who were present at the function.

While the Cabinet ministers were called on the dais to take pledge individually, the 21 ministers of state (Independent charge) were called in batches of seven. The nine ministers of state took the oath in two batches of five and four respectively. Most of the ministers touched the feet of Ms Mayawati before taking the oath.

Besides the Chief Minister, the Council of Ministers of Ms Mayawati have two other women members. While Ms Omvati was sworn in as minister of state (Independent charge), Vidya Chaudhury was administerd the oath of office and secrecy as minister of state.

Four Muslim ministers were appointed while the Brahmin got the quota of six berth, with three alone as Cabinet ministers.

The Other backwards got the major share with, more than 18 getting berth in the ministry while the Thakurs and other castes, including Dalits, were also adequately represented.

The BSP had romped home with an absolute majority in the just-concluded Assembly elections, winning 206 seats in the 403-seat House.

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