Uttar Pradesh gets 4th successive non-legislator CM in Yogi Adityanath

Mulayam, Mayawati, Akhilesh were all sitting MPs when sworn in as CMs

With Gorakhpur Member of Parliament (MP) Yogi Adityanath donning the mantle of the 21st Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh today, he also became the 4th leader in a row to be elevated to the coveted post while not being a member of either house of the UP legislature.

None of his three immediate predecessors viz Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav were the members of the UP legislature, at the time they were sworn in as the CM.

Mulayam Singh had become the 15th CM on August 29, 2003, when he was the Lok Sabha member from Sambhal parliamentary constituency. It was his 3rd term as the CM.

Since, the law stipulated him to become a member of the UP legislature within six months of getting elevated to the top post, Mulayam later contested UP assembly by-election from Gunnaur assembly constituency in January 2004 and won by a thumping margin of over 90 per cent votes polled.

In the 15th UP assembly (2007-2012), Mayawati had taken over as the 17th CM of the state on May 13, 2007, when she was an MP from Akbarpur (reserved) constituency

She, however, chose to become a member of the UP legislative council and thus getting elected to the upper house of the UP legislature, which is one of the few bicameral houses in India today.

Later, in the 16th UP assembly (2012-2017), when Mulayam’s son Akhilesh Yadav led his party to victory in the 2012 UP election, he was still an MP from Kannauj constituency, which was earlier held by Mulayam himself.

After taking over as the 20th UP CM on March 15, 2012, he pursued the MLC route to become a member of UP legislature rather than contesting the assembly bypoll. The Kannauj seat was later contested by his wife Dimple, who subsequently got elected from the constituency.

With history repeating itself, now Yogi Adityanath has become the 21st CM while still serving as a Lok Sabha member.

Interestingly, Yogi is the first chief minister in the last 15 years, who represents the impoverished Eastern UP region, popularly known as Purvanchal, although he originally hailed from the Pauri Garhwal district in Uttarakhand. 

Rajnath Singh, while representing the Haidergarh assembly constituency, was the last CM hailing from the Eastern UP region during his short tenure between October-2000 March 2002. His later incumbents, Mulayam, Mayawati and Akhilesh originally belong to Western UP region.