In an unprecedented move, right before a major cabinet reshuffle was announced in Gujarat, all ministers in Bhupendra Patel’s cabinet resigned. The ministers have resigned on Thursday, 16th October, paving the way for a new cabinet to be sworn in on Friday.
As per sources close to The Hindu, it has been reported that the new cabinet will be expanded and might include several new faces. The current cabinet consisted of 17 members, but the new one is expected to have 22 to 23 members. It is also expected that half of the ministers will be replaced, marking the biggest reshuffle of Patel’s tenure as the Chief Minister of the Western state.
According to officials, the swearing-in ceremony on 17th October will take place from 11:30 am, by the state’s governor Acharya Devrat. The present cabinet with 17 members has eight ministers of the cabinet rank and eight ministers of state. The Legislative Assembly of the state consists of 182 members, which makes the maximum strength of the cabinet equal to 27, that is, 15% of the total strength.
Harsh Sanghavi, the MLA of Majura, who served as the Minister of State for Home and Sports, will be promoted to cabinet rank, as per party sources. This move is a reflection of the BJP’s strategy to bring more young leaders to the forefront of active politics. Rivaba Jadeja, who is a first-time MLA and the wife of cricketer Ravindra Jadeja, will mark her cabinet debut in the reshuffle.
The reshuffle is said to follow the earlier appointment of Minister of State Jagdish Vishwakarma as the new state president of the BJP in Gujarat, who replaced Union Minister C R Patil. This is the second tenure of Bhupendra Patek as the state’s chief minister since he was sworn in in 2022.
