Gujarat: No repeats in Bhupendra Patel's cabinet; check ministers & their portfolios here

Days after naming Bhupendra Patel as the new Chief Minister of Gujarat, the Bharatiya Janata Party government on Thursday inducted 24 Ministers to the State Cabinet- ten cabinet-rank Ministers and 14 Ministers of State, including 5 MoS with independent charge. None of the 24 Ministers was repeated from the outgoing Vijay Rupani cabinet. 

Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath of office to the new cabinet members at the Rajbhavan in Gandhinagar on Thursday in the presence of outgoing Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, former Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and BJP Gujarat unit chief CR Patil, among other party leaders.

Thereafter, the first cabinet meeting of the newly appointed state cabinet was held in Gandhinagar. In the meeting, the Cabinet members were allocated their respective portfolios. 

Here's the new Gujarat cabinet Ministers & their portfolios

• Bhupendra Patel - General Administration Department, Information and Broadcast, Industries, Mines and Minerals, Capital Projects, Urban Development, Urban Housing and Narmada and Ports
• Rajendra Trivedi  (Raopura MLA, former Cabinet Minister) - Revenue, law, and parliamentary affairs
• Jiten Vaghani (Bhavnagar West MLA, former state BJP president) - Education
• Raghavji Patel  (Jamnagar Gramya MLA, former Cabinet Minister) - Agriculture and Animal Husbandry
• Kanubhai Desai (Pardi MLA) - Finance & Energy and Petrochemicals 
• Rushikesh Patel (Visnagar MLA) - Health & Family Welfare and Water Resources 
• Purnesh Modi (Surat West MLA) - Roads and Building, Transport, Civil Aviation, Tourism and Pilgrimage Development
• Kiritsinh Rana (Limbdi MLA, former MoS) - Forest, Environment, Climate Change, and Printing and Stationery
• Nareshbhai Patel (Gandevi MLA) - Tribal Development and Food and Civil Supply
• Pradeep Parmar (Asarwa MLA) - Social Justice and Empowerment Minister
• Arjunsinh Chauhan (Mahemdavad MLA) -  Rural Development and Rural Housing

Ministers of State (Independent Charge)

• Harsh Sanghavi (Majura MLA) - Sports and Culture, NRI, Excise and Prohibition, Border Security and Prisons
• Jagdish Panchal (Nikol MLA)-Cottage Industries, Cooperation, Salt Industry and Protocol
• Brijesh Merja (Morbi MLA) - Labour and Employment 
• Jitubhai Chaudhary (Kaprada MLA) - Kalpsar and Fisheries
• Manisha Vakil (Vadodara City MLA) - Women and Child Welfare

Minister of States

• Mukesh Patel (Olpad MLA) - Agriculture and Energy and Petrochemicals
• Nimisha Suthar  (Morva Hadaf MLA) - Tribal Development, Health and Family Welfare
• Arvind Rayani (Rajkot East MLA) - Transport, Civil Aviation, Tourism and Pilgrimage 
• Kuberbhai Dindor (Santrampur MLA) - Higher and Technical Education 
• Kirtisinh Vaghela (Kankrej MLA) - Primary, Secondary and Adult Education 
• Gajendrasinh Parmar (Prantij MLA) - Food and Civil Supply
• Raghavbhai Makwana (Mahuva MLA) - Social Justice and Empowerment 
• Vinod Moradiya (Katargam MLA) - Urban Development and Urban Housing
• Devabhai Malam (Keshod MLA) - Animal Husbandry

Bhupendra Patel takes over as the CM

In an unforeseen development on September 11, Vijay Rupani tendered his resignation as the Chief Minister of Gujarat without giving any specific reason. While BL Santhosh and Gujarat in-charge Bhupender Yadav were already present in the state, Union Ministers Pralhad Joshi and Narendra Tomar were rushed as observers. Though speculation was rife that Nitin Patel, Cabinet Minister RC Faldu and state BJP vice president Gordhan Zadafia were top contenders for the post, Bhupendra Patel was elected as the new CM in a meeting of the BJP Legislative Party on September 12. 

Belonging to the Patidar caste, Patel is a first-time MLA who trounced his Congress opponent in Ghatlodia by a margin of 1,17,750 votes. Bhupendra Patel is perceived to be a close aide of Uttar Pradesh Governor and former Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel who won from this seat earlier. An engineer, he has served as the chairman of the Standing Committee of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation as well as the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority. Having faced a backlash over the Patidar agitation, Patel's appointment is seen as BJP's attempt to bolster their chances for re-election in the 2022 Assembly election.