The much awaited cabinet expansion of the Bhupendra Patel led BJP Government in Gujarat finally took place on Friday with the induction of 19 new faces. Minister of state for home Harsh Sanghavi has been promoted as the deputy chief minister of the state.
The swearing-in ceremony took place in the main hall of the Mahatma Gandhi Mandir that was packed to capacity.
While earlier Patel had 16 ministers under him, now with the expansion there are 26 ministers. Late on Thursday evening, all the 16 ministers had tendered their resignations.
The expansion was long due and the finer details of the size and composition of the new cabinet is believed to have been finalised a couple of days ago when Patel had a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Gujarat BJP president Jagdish Vishwakarma were also present.
Interestingly, as many as 10 ministers have been dropped. This includes minister of state for cooperation Bachu Khabad whose two sons are allegedly involved in multi-crore MGNREGA scam in Dahod. Opposition Congress and Aam Admi have been demanding that Khabad should be sacked.
Notable inclusions in the cabinet are Arjun Modhwadia, a senior Congress leader, who joined the BJP in the first half of 2024. He is MLA from Porbandar. He took oath as a cabinet minister. Jamnagar MLA Rivaba Jadeja, cricketer Ravindra Jadeja’s wife, also finds a place in the new cabinet. Former Gujarat BJP president and former education minister, Jitu Vaghani from Bhavnagar, makes a comeback.
The BJP had last seen deputy chief minister Nitin Patel in the Vijay Rupani led government. Rupani died in the AI 171 crash earlier this year. Sanghavi, who is often the face of the government during crisis situations, is considered close to the national leadership.
In expanding the cabinet, the top BJP leadership is keeping an eye on the upcoming elections to municipal corporations, taluka and district panchayats. The expansion, coming in less than a month of the party getting a new president in Gujarat – Jagdish Vishwakarma, has carefully tried to do a balancing act when it comes to caste equations.
The new cabinet has eight Patidars including the CM, seven OBCs, four tribals, three from the Scheduled Caste, two from the Kshatriya community, one from the Jain community and one Brahmin.
The highest number of ministers are from Kutch and Saurashtra region – nine. The BJP has carefully picked up the ministers from this region keeping in mind the growing clout of AAP, especially after the victory of Gopal Italia in Visavadar by-poll. Other notable inclusions are Kanti Amrutiya, MLA from Morbi and Kaushik Vekariya from Amreli.
Central Gujarat has six ministers, South Gujarat five and North Gujarat four. From Ahmedabad, in addition to the CM, there is one minister.
With the expansion, the BJP can also expect to neutralise to some extent the anti-incumbency that has come in over the years. The new faces, a good balance, are expected to give a fresh beginning for the Patel led Government.
Interestingly, the expansion also comes at a time when AAP has been agitating over injustice to cotton farmers in Botad. This has been going on for nearly a fortnight now and getting much attention in the media. The focus now shifts with the expansion.
It will also be interesting to see the allotment of the portfolios as this cabinet is expected to function till the end of 2027, just three years before Ahmedabad hosts the Commonwealth Games in 2030. Apart from developing more sporting facilities, it will be paramount to develop infrastructure all over the state.
Also Read: Cabinet Expansion In Gujarat On Friday https://www.vibesofindia.com/cabinet-expansion-in-gujarat-on-friday/
