Yogi Adityanath takes oath as Uttar Pradesh CM for second consecutive term

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yogi Adityanath on Friday 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.

The event began with the national anthem after the arrival of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Making the oath-taking ceremony a mega-show, many colourful programmes were organised for the visitors at the stadium where Actor-politician Dinesh Lal Yadav alias Nirahua performed on the stage.

Adityanath on Thursday met Governor Anandiben Patel and staked a claim to form the government in the state after he was elected leader of the BJP legislative party.

The monk-turned politician will take the reins of the most populous state for a second time in a row after completing his full five-year term - a feat repeated after 37 years.

During the electoral campaign for the Uttar Pradesh elections, the Prime Minister lauded Yogi Adiyanath's work and his coinage - "UP plus Yogi bahut hai upyogi" (UP plus Yogi is very useful) became quite popular. In the 2017 Assembly elections, the BJP after winning the poll chose Adityanath as the Chief Minister.

After becoming the CM of the state, he kept 36 ministries under his direct control, including Home, Economics and Statistics, Sainik Welfare, Home Guard, Personnel and appointment, as well as Civil Defence. Before being sworn as UP chief minister in 2017, he was Gorakhpur MP for five consecutive terms from 1998 to 2017. Born on June 5, 1972, in a village in Uttarakhand, he was named Ajay Singh Bisht by his parents.

He left home to join the movement for the construction of Ram Temple and became a disciple of Mahant Avaidyanath of Gorakhnath Temple in Gorakhpur. He commenced his political journey in 1998 becoming the youngest MP from Gorakhpur. The BJP has created other records with its successive victory in Uttar Pradesh.

It is the first time that a party has returned to power in successive polls after 37 years. The BJP won 255 seats in Uttar Pradesh with its allies in the state also registering impressive performance.

The chief minister is expected to carry the momentum of the party's electoral victory to fulfill the poll promises and give a further push for the development of the state in his second term.