Gujarat: On Thursday, twenty-four ministers were sworn in as Gujarat ministers, including former Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi and former state BJP president Jitu Vaghani. There were no ministers inducted from the previous Vijay Rupani-led cabinet. Ten cabinet ministers and 14 ministers of state, including five ministers of state with independent charge, were sworn in by Governor Acharya Devvrat. At the Raj Bhavan ceremony, Bhupendra Patel, who was sworn in as the state’s 17th chief minister on Monday, was joined by Rupani, whose abrupt resignation from the office on Saturday prompted the establishment of the new administration. The following were sworn in as cabinet ministers: Rajendra Trivedi, Jitu Vaghani, Rushikesh Patel, Purnesh Modi, Raghavji Patel, Kanubhai Desai, Kiritsinh Rana, Naresh Patel, Pradip Parmar and Arjunsinh Chauhan.
The oath-taking comes following a flurry of debates after Bhupendra Patel was sworn in as the new chief minister, succeeding Vijay Rupani, just a year before the state’s election. The government was meant to be formed on Wednesday, but according to sources, several top BJP MLAs refused to relinquish their positions. In the midst of a power struggle between the old ministers and the new names being considered, Bhupendra Patel decided to fire all of Vijay Rupani’s ministers and form a new Cabinet. Rajendra Trivedi, the Speaker of the Assembly, resigned to join the Cabinet and was sworn in on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed all of his party members who were sworn in as Gujarat ministers on Twitter. PM Modi tweeted, “Congratulations to all Party colleagues who have taken oath as Ministers in the Gujarat Government. These are outstanding Karyakartas who have devoted their lives to public service and spreading our Party’s development agenda. Best wishes for a fruitful tenure ahead.”