All Gujarat ministers except CM Patel resign ahead of cabinet expansion
The Gujarat cabinet comprised 17 ministers, including CM Patel. Eight were cabinet-rank ministers, while as many others are ministers of state (MoS).
Sixteen Gujarat ministers submitted their resignations to chief minister Bhupendra Patel on Thursday ahead of a cabinet reshuffle expected to be carried out at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar on Friday, people familiar with the matter said.
A senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said the ministers were told to submit their resignations by the afternoon to give the chief minister and the party leadership a free hand to carry out what has been described by a party leader as a “strategic reset” ahead of the local body elections and the 2027 assembly elections.
The outgoing council of ministers comprised eight cabinet-rank ministers and two ministers of state (independent charge) and six ministers of state.
Patel’s new council of ministers is expected to be sworn in at around noon on Friday.
The chief minister, who has led the state since September 2021, held a meeting with the ministers after their resignations. The ministers have started vacating their offices, a party official said.
The chief minister is expected to meet governor Acharya Devvrat later this evening to submit the list of new ministers. The governor, who also holds charge of Maharashtra, is expected to reach Gandhinagar by 8pm.
A BJP leader said Patel’s new team would have about 22-23 ministers. Only 4-5 ministers from the outgoing team would be retained in this team.
Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP president JP Nadda will also attend the oath ceremony on Friday.
All BJP MLAs have been asked to remain in Gandhinagar.
This is the first major cabinet overhaul after Bhupendra Patel, who replaced Vijay Rupani as chief minister in 2021, led the BJP to a landslide victory in the 2022 state elections.
The newly appointed state BJP president, Jagdish Vishwakarma, is unlikely to be retained in line with the party’s “one person, one post” rule. The government may also revive the post of deputy chief minister, with Harsh Sanghvi and Kunvarji Halpati among the likely contenders, a BJP leader said.
