 "Vijay Rupani sworn in as Gujarat's 16th chief minister")
Of these, eight including Nitin Patel were sworn in as Cabinet ministers, while the 16 administered the oath of office under Gujarat Governor O P Kohli as state ministers, following loud cheers from party members and supporters.
In a major reshuffle, finance minister Saurabh Patel, along with Mangubhai Patel and Dalit leader Ramanlol Vohra did not find a place in the new Cabinet. Saurabh Patel’s exclusion comes at a time when the state will be heading into the eighth biennial Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit in January next year. Apart from spearheading the demand for an additional tax under GST for manufacturing states, Patel has also been instrumental in the role of energy and petrochemicals minister.
However, speculations were soon rife over Saurabh Patel’s future, with possibilities of his deputation to the Centre will be most likely deputed to the Centre, where his skills will be put to use in implementation of the goods and services tax (GST).
The three cabinet ministers of Anandiben regime were replaced by Dilip Thakor and Jayesh Radadiya, who were elevated from minister of state (MoS) to cabinet, Chiman Shapariya, a Kadva Patidar leader, was inducted as a new face in the cabinet, a move seen to placate the Patidars.
Given the recent agitations by Patidar and Dalit communities, Amit Shah along with Vijay Rupani and Nitin Patel have attempted at ensuring caste balance in crafting the council of ministers.
Resultantly, Gujarat state assembly speaker Ganpat Vasava, a tribal, along with deputy speaker Atmaram Parmar were inducted back again in the new cabinet, after they resigned on Saturday.
The other Cabinet Ministers who were sworn-in included Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, Babu Bokharia, Dilip Thakor, Jayesh Radadiya and Chiman Sapariya.
The new Cabinet now comprises four Patidar leaders and one each OBC, Dalit and tribal leaders. However, the Rupani-Patel team saw only one woman minister in Nirmala Wadhwani from Ahmedabad in the 24-member ministry.
The MoS also saw more of Patel names like Ishwar Patel, Rohit Patel, Vallabh Kakadiya, and Vallabh Vaghasiya, along with SC and ST candidates such as Keshaji Chauhan, and Shabdsharan Tadvi.
Region-wise, the Cabinet saw Saurashtra, a Patidar stronghold, being represented the most by ministers like Radadiya, Shapariya, Bokhiria and Chudasama, followed by North Gujarat being represented by Nitin Patel.
In the MoS, the party attempted a region mix with seven each ministers representing central and south Gujarat, followed by six from Saurashtra region.
Addressing mediapersons at the end of the ceremony, new Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani stated, We have inducted all regions, all communities in the new Cabinet.
We will now meet on Monday to decide on the portfolios and future steps that we need to take for Gujarat. Political challenges in the face of community agitations notwithstanding, Gujarat government will face a seemingly uphill task of facing the state assembly elections in December next year.
Apart from first time Rajkot West MLA Rupani predecessor Anandiben Patel and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National President Amit Shah, the swearing-in ceremony saw presence of senior party leaders such as L K Advani, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala, along with chief ministers of BJP-ruled states such as Devendra Fadnavis (Maharashtra) and Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana).
All the through the ceremony, party leaders seemed to distance themselves from Anandiben. However, at the end of the ceremony, Rupani shook hands with Anandiben.
Seen as an Amit Shah loyalist, Rupani’s name for the new CM post had emerged as a surprise on Friday, after an hour long meeting of Shah with party MLAs was resulting in non-consensus until the last moment.
On Thursday, Gujarat first woman chief minister, Anandiben Patel had tendered resignation, citing the 75 years age cap being called for by her party among members.