Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati Sunday inducted one more minister into her 51-member council of ministers.

The new entrant is Swami Prasad Maurya, who earlier stepped down as the cooperatives minister, following his defeat in the last Lok Sabha election.

An official press release, however, claimed that Maurya resigned as his term as member of the state Legislative Council (upper house) had expired.

Maurya, however, romped home from the Padrauna assembly constituency in the by-elections held Nov 7. He was Sunday inducted as a cabinet rank minister.

While speculation was rife that the chief minister would bring in a couple of new faces and also effect a minor reshuffle by showing the door to some, Mayawati surprised all by merely bringing Maurya back into the cabinet.

Maurya, a former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) state president, is known for his proximity to Mayawati.

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