All 16 Gujarat ministers resign; new, bigger Bhupendra Patel Cabinet to take oath Friday

All 16 ministers in the Gujarat government resigned on Thursday ahead of a major cabinet reshuffle scheduled for Friday. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel is the only member of the current cabinet to continue in office, and is expected to meet Governor Acharya Devvrat in the evening to formally submit the resignations. The current Gujarat cabinet, which has 16 members, will be expanded and the number of ministers could rise to over 20, said reports, citing sources. All the BJP MLAs have also been asked to be in Gandhinagar by Thursday. The new, bigger Gujarat cabinet will be sworn in on Friday at the Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar, in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president JP Nadda.

“Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel’s cabinet will be expanded on Friday at 12:39 pm,” a government release said.

The Gujarat cabinet comprised 17 ministers, including Chief Minister Patel. Eight of them were cabinet-rank ministers, while others were ministers of state (MoS).

Gujarat can have up to 27 ministers

Gujarat, which has a 182-member assembly, can have 27 ministers, or 15 per cent of the total strength of the House.

A meeting was held at the chief minister’s residence on Thursday evening, and it was attended by BJP national general secretary (organisation) Sunil Bansal and CM Patel. Bansal and Patel met each minister individually and informed them about the decision of the party’s central leadership and then collected their resignations.

Reports said around seven ministers are likely to be retained, and new faces will be inducted as per the party’s strategy.

Party insiders said Gujarat BJP president Jagdish Vishwakarma coordinated the process and conveyed the leadership’s decision to the ministers.

Reshuffle to infuse new energy, balance representation

The resignations are being seen as part of the BJP’s plan to restructure the state cabinet ahead of the upcoming political and organisational challenges. The reshuffle will enable the party to infuse new energy and balance caste and regional representation ahead of upcoming polls.

Earlier this month, MoS in the Gujarat government, Jagdish Vishwakarma, became the new president of the BJP’s state unit, replacing Union minister CR Paatil. Bhupendra Patel took oath as Gujarat chief minister for the second time on December 12, 2022.