On day One, Yogi tells bureaucrats to perform

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday directed senior officials of the state to prepare a roadmap for "good governance and transparency" for all departments.

Presiding over a meeting of the officials, Yogi handed them the Bharatiya Janata Party's vision document -- Sankalp Patra -- for the 2017 state assembly elections, and asked the bureaucrats to study the document and ensure its "speedy and complete implementation".

Officials present at the meeting told IANS that the "maiden meeting with the new CM was good" though it had its "share of anxious moments". They pointed out that they knew very little about the new Chief Minister, who is known for his firebrand Hindutva-oriented politics.

Yogi also asked policemen to ensure that law and order situation in the state improved within a week.

He referred to the late-night killing of a BSP leader in Allahabad and directed the Director General of Police (DGP) to bring the guilty to book. The Chief Minister was slated to attend a high tea hosted by Governor Ram Naik at Raj Bavan for the new ministers.

Earlier in the day, Yogi moved into the official Chief Minister's residence at 5, Kalidas Marg. But before he moved in, seven priests from the Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur, of which Yogi is the presiding priest, propitiated the gods -- performing a "Shuddhi Hawan" and "Vastu Puja" -- before a "Kalash" was placed as a sign of house warming.

A priest also made the auspicious 'Swastik' symbols on both sides of the tall gate of the heavily guarded CM's residence, which was occupied by former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav for well over five years.

The sprawling bungalow will now be home to the 44-year-old Chief Minister, who is a bachelor, and some of his companions of many years, who, an insider said, would take care of the "routine puja-paath".

Before moving into the 5, Kalidas Marg, the Chief Minister spent the night at a luxury suite in the state's VVIP Guest House, where many senior officials visited him and sought directions.

Prominent among those who visited him included Chief Secretary Rahul Bhatnagar, Director General of Police Javeed Ahmad, senior Indian Police Service officer Sultan Singh and Surya Kumar Shukla.

--IANS

md/nir/vt