Gandhinagar: A day ahead of the planned cabinet expansion in Gujarat, all 16 ministers except Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel resigned on Thursday, BJP sources said.
Patel will expand his cabinet on Friday, the state government had announced earlier in the morning.
“Resignations of all 16 ministers have been taken by the party. Except for Chief Minister Patel, all the ministers have resigned,” said a BJP source.
As per the official release, the cabinet expansion will take place at 11.30 am on Friday.
The present Council of Ministers has 17 members, including CM Patel. Eight of them are cabinet-rank ministers while the others are Ministers of State (MoS).
Gujarat, which has a 182-member assembly, can have a maximum of 27 ministers (15 per cent of the strength of the House).
Earlier this month, MoS Jagdish Vishwakarma became the new president of the state Bharatiya Janata Party unit, replacing Union minister C R Paatil.
Bhupendra Patel became chief minister for the second time on December 12, 2022.
The ministers’ resignations will now be formally handed over to the state governor. All resignations were pre-prepared and signed, with no additional instructions given.
The process for expanding the state cabinet has now entered its final stage. The move began with BJP state president Jagdish Vishwakarma tendering his resignation, after which the remaining ministers submitted theirs in quick succession. Vishwakarma had instructed all ministers to submit their resignations.
Interestingly, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel did not request the resignations. During the afternoon meeting at his residence, the ministers collectively decided to resign. With this decision, all eyes are now on the announcement of the new cabinet. The swearing-in ceremony for the new ministers is scheduled for Friday, 17 October, at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar.
List of Resigning Gujarat Ministers and Their Portfolios:
Kanubhai Desai – Finance, Energy & Petrochemicals (Pardi)
Balwantsinh Rajput – Industries, Labour & Employment (Siddhpur)
Rishikesh Patel – Health, Family Welfare & Higher Education (Visnagar)
Raghavji Patel – Agriculture, Animal Husbandry & Fisheries (Jamnagar Rural)
Kunwarjibhai Bavaliya – Water Supply & Civil Supplies (Jasdan)
Bhanuben Babariya – Social Justice & Women and Child Development (Rajkot Rural)
Mulubhai Bera – Tourism, Forest & Environment (Khambhaliya)
Kuber Dindor – Education & Tribal Development (Santrampur ST)
Naresh Patel – Gandevi
Bacchubhai Khabad – Devgarh Baria
Parsottam Solanki – Bhavnagar Rural
Harsh Sanghvi – Majura
Jagdish Vishwakarma – Nikol
Mukeshbhai Zinabhai Patel – Olpad
Kunwarjibhai Halpati – Mandvi (ST)
Bhikubhai Chatur Singh Parmar – Modasa
