Rivaba Jadeja, wife of Indian cricketer Ravindra Jadeja, has been sworn into the new Gujarat cabinet announced on Friday. She is one of the 26 new members of the cabinet who took the oath in Ahmedabad.
All Gujarat ministers, except Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, submitted their resignations on Thursday.
A senior BJP leader said that the ministers were told to submit their resignations by Thursday afternoon to give the CM and the party leadership a free hand for what has been described by a party leader as a "strategic reset" ahead of the local body polls and the 2027 state assembly election, HT reported earlier.
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Gujarat's assembly comprises 182 members and can include as many as 27 ministers, constituting 15 per cent of the total House strength.
Who is Rivaba Jadeja?
- Rivaba Jadeja joined the BJP in 2019 and later became the party’s candidate from Jamnagar North in the 2022 Gujarat Assembly elections.
- Her husband, cricketer Ravindra Jadeja, had also campaigned for her during the polls. She won the seat with a lead of more than 50,000 votes.
- Rivaba Jadeja defeated Aam Aadmi Party's Karshanbhai Karmur, with 23 per cent of the vote share. Congress candidate Bipendrasinh Chatursinh Jadeja came in third, with a 15.5 percent vote share.
- Rivaba Jadeja was chosen by the BJP over their sitting MLA Dharmendrasinh Jadeja to ward off anti-incumbency.
- In August 2023, Rivaba found herself at the centre of controversy after she was seen engaged in a heated altercation with two BJP colleagues during a public event.
- The Jamnagar (north) MLA later addressed the media over the controversy and said that she was paying tributes at an event without footwear, and that BJP MP Poonamben Maadam passed a comment aimed at her which she felt was “insulting”.
- In 2024, Rivaba's husband, Ravindra Jadeja, also joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.
- Rivaba Jadeja joined the BJP in 2019 and later became the party’s candidate from Jamnagar North in the 2022 Gujarat Assembly elections.
- Her husband, cricketer Ravindra Jadeja, had also campaigned for her during the polls. She won the seat with a lead of more than 50,000 votes.
- Rivaba Jadeja defeated Aam Aadmi Party's Karshanbhai Karmur, with 23 per cent of the vote share. Congress candidate Bipendrasinh Chatursinh Jadeja came in third, with a 15.5 percent vote share.
- Rivaba Jadeja was chosen by the BJP over their sitting MLA Dharmendrasinh Jadeja to ward off anti-incumbency.
- In August 2023, Rivaba found herself at the centre of controversy after she was seen engaged in a heated altercation with two BJP colleagues during a public event.
- The Jamnagar (north) MLA later addressed the media over the controversy and said that she was paying tributes at an event without footwear, and that BJP MP Poonamben Maadam passed a comment aimed at her which she felt was “insulting”.
- In 2024, Rivaba's husband, Ravindra Jadeja, also joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.