Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Cabinet expansion which was scheduled to take place on Monday, has been postponed amid concerns over the deteriorating health of former finance minister Arun Jaitley, who is currently on life support system at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi.
The cabinet reshuffle was much-awaited as several key promotions and induction of new ministers in the cabinet were slated to take place. Earlier on Sunday, all the state ministers were asked not to leave capital Lucknow ahead of the cabinet reshuffle.
Around 12 new faces who became legislators were expected to be sworn in the cabinet. At least three-four ministers of state (Independent Charge) were also expected to be promoted in the reshuffle. The three cabinet ministers who contested the Lok Sabha elections and won are SP Singh Baghel from Agra, Rita Bahuguna Joshi from Allahabad and Satyadev Pachauri from Kanpur were also expected to be inducted in the cabinet.
There are presently 43 ministers in the state Cabinet including CM Yogi Adityanath, two Deputy CMs -- Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma, nine Ministers of State with independent charges and 13 Ministers of State.
According to reports, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had approved the cabinet expansion, however, it has been put on hold over BJP leader Arun Jaitley's ailing health condition.
Sources had told Zee News on Saturday that Jaitley was put on Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, which is applicable for patients whose lungs and heart do not function properly.
The 66-year-old was admitted to the country's premier medical institution on August 9 morning and was put on ventilator late on the same night. Soon after he was admitted on August 9, PM Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited Jaitley at the hospital.
