Vibha sharma

Tribune press service

New Delhi, September 16

Marking an unprecedented move, the ruling BJP completely overhauled Gujarat’s cabinet on Thursday, selecting all the new faces of the Bhupendra Patel government.

Significantly, none of the 24 ministers sworn in today had served in the former government of Vijay Rupani.

The central leadership has adopted a “no-repeat” formula to overcome anti-nomination issues and other issues facing the party in the crucial 2022 elections in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Minister of Justice. Interior Amit Shah, possibly also sending a message to leaders of other party-ruled states

The new ministers include 10 in the rank of Cabinet and 14 ministers of state. Along with CM Bhupendra Patel, there are now 22 (21) junior ministers on the council. Among the most prominent are heavyweight Patidar and former CM MP Nitin Patel and Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, the education minister in the Rupani government.

Among the inductees are former state BJP head Jitubhai Vaghani and Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi. Although the majority are first-time lawmakers, only a few have previous ministerial experience, such as Rajendra Trivedi, minister in the Anandiben government, and Kiritsinh Rana, who served under Narendra Modi.

The politically important regions of Saurashtra and southern Gujarat won maximum Cabinet positions, formulated with the balance of castes and regions in mind. Current head of state CR Patil is from southern Gujarat and observers say his influence is evident in the choice of ministers.

The transition was not so easy. Sources say marathon meetings were held to finalize the names. The ceremony, which was scheduled for earlier Wednesday, had to be postponed after sitting ministers, who were to be sacked, opposed the move.

Besides anti-ownership, the ruling BJP faces several other challenges (including from the AAP), battling negative perceptions and allegations of mismanagement of Covid in the state. Observers say that through the overhaul of the state leadership by the central leadership appears a new formula for overcoming the challenges

In any case, leaders are clear that those who create “problems by continually pushing or raising issues that ultimately lead to the ouster of any CMs should not be encouraged by giving them positions for which they will. fought “, perhaps a signal for other states. amid the buzz of “a few more similar changes” in the coming days.

Observers say what has happened at the BJP over the past six months is somewhat rare in the party led by Prime Minister Modi and Interior Minister Amit Shah. The leadership that hardly ever replaced any CMs, including Jharkhand, where feelings were clearly against outgoing CM Raghubar Das in 2019, has changed up to four in the past six months. What is even more surprising is the choice of replacements, mostly “second-rank chiefs / rear-advisers in state assemblies”, as some may do in the case of Bhupendra Patel and some. of his ministers.

A second-tier leader makes it easier to control those in Delhi instead of a well-established politician with his own baggage, supporters and opponents, observers say. In addition, they fulfill the fundamental demands of the party in the run-up to the elections, which will anyway be formulated and led by Prime Minister Modi and Shah.

PM congratulates new ministers

“Congratulations to all Party colleagues who have taken the oath as ministers of the government of Gujarat. They are exceptional Karyakartas who have dedicated their lives to public service and to the dissemination of our Party’s development program. Best wishes for a successful term ahead, ”Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

RANK OF THE FIRM

Jeetu Vaghani, (West Bhavnagar),

Rajendra Trivedi (Raopur)

Rushikesh Patel (Visnagar),

Purnesh Modi (Surah)

Raghavji Patel (Jamnagar campaign)

Kanubhai Desai (Pardi)

Kiritsinh Rana (Limdi)

Naresh Patel (Gandevi)

Pradeep Parmar (Asarwa)

Arjunsinh Chauhan (Mehamdavad)

MoS (independent load)

Harsh Sanghavi (Majora, Sura)

Jagdish Panchal (Nikol)

Manisha Vakil, (city of Vadodara)

Brajesh Merja (Morbi)

Jitu Chaudhary (Kaparda)

MINISTER OF STATE (MoS)

Mukesh Patel (Olpad)

Arvind Rayani (Rajkot East)

Kuber Dhindor (Santrampur)

Kirtisinh Waghela (Kankrej)

Nimisha Suthar (Morwa Hadaf)

RC Makwana (Mahua)

Gajendrasingh Parmar (Prantij)

Vinobhai Moradia (Katargam, Surah)

Deva Malam (Keshod)

Here are brief profiles of some of the ministers.

Cabinet of Ministers:

Rajendra Trivedi: He was appointed Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Gujarat in 2018 after serving as Minister of State for Sports, Youth, Cultural Activities and Pilgrimage in the Rupani government.

The 67-year-old lawyer won the Raopura seat in Vadodara district for the second time in 2017. He has been associated with the BJP since the days of Jan Sangh and, as a lawyer, has handled cases related to the 2002 post-Godhra riots.

Jitu Vaghani: He was the president of Gujarat BJP until last year, when he was replaced by CR Paatil. The 52-year-old politician’s first foray into electoral politics in 2007 ended in failure after his defeat to senior Congress official Shaktisinh Gohil in Bhavnagar (West).

In his second attempt, Vaghani won the 2012 parliamentary elections and retained the seat in 2017. This is his first foray into the state cabinet.

Rushikesh Patel: The deputy for Visnagar in Mehsana district, he won the seat for the second time in 2012. Patel (61) is the president of the APMC in Mehsana and also served as the president of the Mehsana district of BJP .

He had accused Patidar’s quota bustle leader Hardik Patel, who is now the incumbent Gujarat congressman, of ransacking his office in 2015 during a protest rally.

Purnesh Modi: He was elected in the Surat (West) Assembly constituency in the 2013 by-election following the death of MP Kishor Vankawala and retained his seat in the 2017 election. It is for the first time that the legislator of the BJP will exercise the functions of minister.

Purnesh Modi had filed a libel suit against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his comment regarding the surname “Modi” during the 2019 election campaign in Lok Sabha.

Raghavji Patel: a former congressman who won the 2019 by-election in the Rural Assembly constituency of Jamnagar. Raghavji Patel had switched sides and joined the BJP after voting against Congress candidate Rajya Sabha, the late Ahmed Patel, in 2018.

However, the electoral commission had invalidated his vote, which allowed Ahmed Patel to win and enter the Rajya Sabha. His victory as the BJP candidate in the 2019 by-elections was his third as a seat deputy, which he had won twice in the past as a congressional candidate.

Kiritsinh Rana: The member of the Limbdi Assembly constituency has previously served as Minister of Livestock, Forestry and Environment in two BJP governments. The 57-year-old was first elected Member of Parliament in 1995 and then again in 2007, 2013 and 2020, the last two terms in by-elections. The 2020 Limbdi by-election was made necessary after Congressman Soma Patel resigned.

Naresh Patel: He is the deputy of the Gandevi Assembly constituency reserved for the listed tribes in the Navsari district. A first-term MP, the 53-year-old is also president of the Navsari district of the BJP. Its assembly segment falls under the constituency of Navsari Lok Sabha represented by BJP State President CR Paatil.

Pradip Parmar: He is the deputy of the constituency of the Asarwa Assembly reserved for the scheduled distribution of Ahmedabad. A first-time MP, Parmar has gone from a booth worker to an MP and is now a Cabinet Minister. The 57-year-old’s dedication to the party for more than three decades has paid off.

Arjunsinh Chauhan: He is the BJP deputy for Mahemdavad constituency. At 47, this first deputy from the constituency of the neighboring Kheda district of Ahmedabad is one of the young faces of the Bhupendra Patel government.

Kanu Desai: The 70-year-old is the MP for Pardi in the Valsad district. He is a two-term deputy from the seat.

Brief profiles of some ministers of state

Harsh Sanghavi: 36 years old, Sanghavi is the provincial deputy of Majura, in the city of Surat, for two terms. Sanghavi won both elections held in Majora after being split into a separate assembly segment. Sanghavi is a diamond jeweler and was the youngest general secretary of Gujarat BJP when he held this position.

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

Jitu Chaudhary: A tribal community leader from Valsad district, he also belongs to the generation of BJP deputies who were earlier in Congress and went on to win the Assembly by-elections as ruling party candidates. Chaudhary has won the seat of the Kaprada Assembly three times. He resigned from Congress in 2020 ahead of Rajya Sabha’s election.

Manisha Vakil: She is the deputy of the constituency of the Assembly of the city of Vadodara reserved for listed castes. She twice won the seat that was cut out after the 2008 demarcation exercise. She is one of the prominent female faces in the current government and a prime minister.

Jagdish Panchal: He is the deputy of the Nikol Assembly constituency in Ahmedabad, a seat which he has won twice. The 70-year-old is a businessman and until recently was president of the Ahmedabad city BJP. – With PTI