Yogi Adityanath to take oath as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister on 25 March

Yogi Adityanath will take oath for his second consecutive term as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister next Friday, the BJP has said.

As per reports, the oath taking ceremony will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and other central ministers.

The ceremony will be held at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow at 4 pm on March 25, Friday. The stadium has the capacity to host a crowd of 50,000 and arrangements are also being made for around 200 VVIPs at the stadium.

Besides PM Modi and Amit Shah, BJP national president JP Nadda, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, chief ministers of BJP-ruled states and other prominent leaders, including from the opposition, are expected to be present for the event.

The party is planning a grand swearing-in ceremony for CM Yogi and is preparing a list of invitees. Among the guests will be beneficiaries of various government schemes known as "labharti," who have played a critical role in returning the BJP to power.

While the UP CM will occupy the top post, the BJP is grappling with the question whether to have deputy chief minister.

It is also considering if outgoing deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya who lost the election can be reinstated in his old position.

The BJP, which won 255 seats (273 with allies) in the 403-member assembly, created history by becoming the first government in the country's most populous state, since 1987, to be re-elected after completing its first term. Its main challenger, the SP-led alliance, won 125 seats, of which 111 went to the Akhilesh Yadav-led party.

Uttar Pradesh went to the polls in seven phases. Voting took place on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27, March 3 and 7. The counting of votes was held on March 10.