Gujarat Cabinet expansion: Harsh Sanghavi takes oath as Deputy CM, 25 inducted

Surat MLA Harsh Sanghavi has taken oath as Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat as part of the cabinet expansion on Friday (October 17). Jitendra Waghani has also taken the oath as a cabinet minister. Cricketer Ravindra Jadeja's wife also took the oath as a minister.

Sanghavi, who secured a thumping victory over his AAP rival by a margin of more than 1 lakh votes in the 2022 Assembly election, took oath in the presence of Governor Acharya Devvrat at the Raj Bhavan in Gandhinagar.

Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath to the 25 cabinet inductees. The cabinet strength stands at 26, including Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.

The development comes a day after all 16 ministers, except Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, resigned.

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Which ministers got reinstated

Visnagar MLA Rushikesh Patel, who previously managed the Health, Education, and Law departments, along with Kamrej MLA Praful Pansheriya, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, and Jasdan MLA Kunvarji Bavaliya, former Water Resources Minister, have all been reinstated in the Gujarat Council of Ministers.

Kanubhai Desai, MLA from Pardi who oversaw Finance, Energy, and Petrochemicals, and Parshottam Solanki, MLA from Bhavnagar Rural and former Minister of State for Fisheries, were also reappointed.

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Who are the new faces

New faces in the cabinet include Naresh Patel (Gandevi), Darshna Vaghela (Asarwa and ex-Deputy Mayor of Ahmedabad), Pradyuman Vaja (Kodinar and former BJP SC Morcha chief), Kantilal Amrutiya (Morbi), and Manisha Vakil (Vadodara City). Arjun Mondhwadia, the Porbandar MLA who defected from Congress last year, has also been inducted.

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Other Cabinet inductees

Other members joining the council include Jitu Vaghani, former state BJP chief and Bhavnagar MLA; Kaushik Vekariya, Amreli MLA and BJP Deputy Chief Whip; Swarupji Thakor (Banaskantha); Trikam Chhanga (Anjar); Jayram Gamit (Nizar); Rivaba Jadeja (Jamnagar North); PC Baranda (Bhilloda); Ramesh Katara (Dahod); Ishwarsinh Patel (Ankleshwar); Pravin Mali (Deesa); Ramanbhai Solanki (Borsad); Kamlesh Patel (Petlad); and Sanjay Singh Mahida (Mahudha).

All sixteen ministers, except Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, resigned earlier on Thursday. The Gujarat assembly allows a maximum of 27 ministers (15 per cent of its 182 members). Previously, the council had 17 ministers, including the CM, eight cabinet ministers and eight ministers of state.

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CM Patel meets Governor

Earlier in the day, Bhupendra Patel met Governor Acharya Devvrat at Raj Bhavan to formally request approval for holding the swearing-in ceremony of the new cabinet.

In an X post, the Governor stated, “Chief Minister Bhupendrabhai Patel ji visited Raj Bhavan today and paid a courtesy call. During this time, the Chief Minister acquainted the current status of the Gujarat cabinet and sought permission to organise the swearing-in ceremony for the new cabinet members.”

Also Read: All Gujarat ministers resign ahead of October 17 Cabinet expansion

Gujarat BJP released a list of 26 ministers-designate

The Gujarat BJP released a list of 26 ministers-designate, including Swaroopji Thakor, Pravenkumar Mali, Rushikesh Patel, Darshna Waghela, Kunvarji Bavaliya, Rivaba Jadeja, Arjun Modhwadia, Parshottam Solanki, Jitendra Waghani, Praful Pansheriya, Harsh Sanghvi, and Kanubhai Desai.

Under constitutional provisions, the state cabinet can include up to 15 per cent of the 182-member assembly, approximately 27 ministers. The previous cabinet consisted of 17 members, including the Chief Minister, with eight cabinet ministers and nine ministers of state.