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Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel keeps home ministry, Kanubhai Desai finance minister

By | Written by Poulomi Ghosh
Sep 16, 2021 07:31 PM IST

As many as 21 of the MLAs who took oath today have become ministers for the first time. There will be no deputy chief minister in the new Cabinet.

Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel will keep the home ministry with him while Kanubhai Desai has been allocated the finance portfolio. There will be no deputy chief minister in the new Cabinet. As 24 new ministers took oath on Thursday to form a brand new Cabinet for Gujarat, the chief minister held the first meeting of his new Cabinet on Thursday. Besides home ministry, the chief minister will hold the charge of General Administration Department, Information and Broadcast, Industries, Mines and Minerals, Capital Projects, Urban Development, Urban Housing and Narmada and Ports, an official release said, PTI reported. 

Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel. (File photo)(HT_PRINT)

While the portfolios are being distributed among the new ministers, the Gujarat Cabinet holds many surprises as no one from Vijay Rupani's Cabinet has been accommodated in the brand new Cabinet. As many as 21 of the 24 MLAs who took oath on Thursday are first-time ministers and the fresh inductions also include two women. Bhupendra Patel himself is a first-time minister. 

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“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,” PM Modi tweeted.

Here is all you need to know about the new ministers of the Bhupendra Patel Cabinet

Rajendra Trivedi

Nominated as Speaker of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly in 2018, Trivedi is not a first time minister as he was the sports minister in the Rupani government before. The 67-year lawyer won from the Raopura seat in the Vadodara district for the second time in 2017. His association with the BJP goes back to the Jan Sangh time. As a lawyer, he handled cases related to the 2002 post-Godhra riots. 

Jitu Vaghani

Jitu Vaghani was the Gujarat BJP president till last year before CR Paatil took over. The 52-year- old politician's entry into electoral politics in 2007 was unsuccessful after he was defeated by senior Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil in Bhavnagar (West). In his second attempt, Vaghani was successful in 2012 and retained the seat in 2017. He is a first-time minister.

Rushikesh Patel

61-year-old Patel is a two-time MLA from Visnagar in Mehsana district. He is the chairman of APMC at Mehsana and has also served as the BJP's Mehsana district president. 

Purnesh Modi

Purnesh Modi was elected from the Surat (West) Assembly constituency in the 2013 by-election after sitting MLA Kishor Vankawala died and retained the seat in the 2017 polls. The first-time minister had filed a criminal defamation case against Rahul Gandhi over his comment regarding "Modi" surname during the 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign. 

Raghavji Patel

A third-time MLA, Raghavij Patel was in the Congress and had switched side after voting against Congress Rajya Sabha candidate, late Ahmed Patel, in 2018. The Election Commission had invalidated his vote, which helped Ahmed Patel win and enter the Rajya Sabha. His victory as a BJP candidate in the 2019 by-election was his third as an MLA from the seat, which he had won twice in the past as a Congress candidate. 

Kiritsinh Rana

Limbdi MLA Kiritsinh Rana has served as the minister of animal husbandry and forest and environment in two BJP governments. The 57-year-old was first elected as an MLA in 1995, and again in 2007, 2013 and 2020, the last two terms in by-elections. 

Naresh Patel

He is the MLA from the Scheduled Tribe-reserved Gandevi Assembly constituency in Navsari district. A first-term MLA, the 53-year-old is also the president of BJP's Navsari district. His assembly segment falls under the Navsari Lok Sabha constituency represented by state BJP president CR Paatil.

Pradip Parmar

He is the MLA from Scheduled Cast-reserved Asarwa Assembly constituency of Ahmedabad. A first-time MLA, Parmar rose from being a booth-level worker to an MLA and he is now a cabinet minister. The 57-year-old's dedication to the party since the last more than three decades has paid off. 

Arjunsinh Chauhan

He is the BJP MLA from the Mahemdavad constituency. At 47, this first-time MLA from the constituency in Kheda district neighbouring Ahmedabad is one of the young faces of the Bhupendra Patel government. 

Kanubhai Desai

The 70-year-old is the MLA from Pardi in Valsad district. He is a two-term MLA from the seat. He has been allocated the finance portfolio. 

Harsh Sanghavi

All of 36 years of age, Sanghavi is a two-term MLA from Majura in Surat city. Sanghavi has won both the elections held in Majora after it was carved out as a separate assembly segment. A businessman, Sanghavi is into diamond jewellery and was the youngest general secretary of the Gujarat BJP when he held the post. 

Brijesh Merja

The BJP MLA from the Morbi Assembly constituency who was earlier in the Congress. Merja is among the MLAs who left the Congress to join the BJP. He won the 2017 Assembly elections on a Congress ticket, then switched side to the ruling BJP and went on to win the 2020 by-election from the same seat (Morbi). Merja had resigned ahead of the Rajya Sabha election in 2020, leaving the Congress in a position where it could not win more than one seat. 

Jitu Chaudhary

A leader from the tribal community in Valsad district, he also belongs to the crop of BJP MLAs who were earlier in the Congress and subsequently won Assembly by-elections as ruling party candidates. Chaudhary has won three-times from the Kaprada Assembly seat. He resigned from the Congress in 2020 ahead of the Rajya Sabha election. 

Manisha Vakil

She is the MLA from Scheduled Caste-reserved Vadodara City Assembly constituency. She has won twice from the seat that was carved out after the 2008 delimitation exercise. She is one of the prominent women faces in the present government and a first-time minister. 

Jagdish Panchal

He is the MLA from the Nikol Assembly constituency in Ahmedabad, a seat from where he has won two-times. The 70-year-old is a businessman and till recently served as the Ahmedabad city BJP president.

(With PTI Inputs)

 

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