Yogi Adityanath extends UP's free ration scheme by three months

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In the first decision of his second term as Uttar Pradesh chief minister, recently sworn in Yogi Adityanath announced extending the free ration scheme for 15 crore people by three months.

This comes after Adityanath yesterday took oath as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for the second straight term during a grand ceremony at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in state capital Lucknow.

Governor of Uttar Pradesh Anandi Ben Patel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and other BJP leaders were present at the gathering during the swearing in ceremony.

The BJP created history in recent UP assembly polls when, along with allies, it won a record mandate bagging 274 of the 403 seats, becoming the first party in three decades to get a second term after completing a five-year tenure.

Born on June 5, 1972 in Pauri Garhwal in present-day Uttarakhand as Ajay Singh Bisht, the CM renounced his name and family when he was 21, becoming a disciple of Mahant Avaidyanath, the head priest of the Gorakhpur Math, to eventually become Yogi Adityanath.

At 26, Adityanath was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time from Gorakhpur, becoming the youngest parliamentarian. He won the Lok Sabha election from Gorakhpur for five consecutive terms – 1998, 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014 -- till he became a surprise choice to lead UP after win in 2017 assembly polls.

Overall, BJP has given four CMs in UP: The other three being Rajnath Singh,  Kalyan Singh and Ram Prakash Gupta.

Adityanath contested assembly polls for the first time in 2022 and won from Gorakhpur Urban seat. He is the first sitting CM, since Mulayam Singh Yadav in 2007, to contest polls. Both his predecessors, Akhilesh Yadav (2012-17) and Mayawati (2007-2012) were members of legislative council (MLC). In his first term, Adityanath was an MLC too.

Adityanath is also the only UP CM to be re-elected after serving a full five-year term in three decades. Other CMs who won a second straight term are Sampurnanand (1957), Chandrabhanu Gupta (1972), Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna (1974), and Narayan Dutt Tiwari (1985). Under Adityanath, the BJP became UP’s first government since 1985 to be re-elected for a second consecutive term.