Gujarat Cabinet reshuffle: 3 women ministers, but none given Cabinet rank

In the previous Council of ministers, the only woman minister, Bhanuben Babariya was Cabinet Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Women and Child Welfare.

Rivaba Jadeja, MLA from the Jamnagar North constituency, became a known name and face on social media in 2016 after she married cricketer Ravindra Jadeja. The couple has a daughter, Nidhyana, born in 2017.

Before getting into mainstream politics, Rivaba was active in the Rajput outfit Karni Sena and had made headlines in 2018 when she supported the protests against Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film, Padmaavat. The same year, she was appointed head of the Karni Sena’s women’s wing in Gujarat.

She again made headlines in 2019 when she entered politics soon after she and her cricketer husband met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi. In 2022, BJP declared her the candidate choosing her over the sitting MLA, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (Hakubha), a seasoned politician. She proved her mettle with her victory by a huge margin of over 53,000 votes against AAP’s Karshanbhai Karmur.

Her election campaign too attracted controversies. While her husband campaigned for Rivaba, her father-in-law Anirudhsinh Jadeja and sister-in-law Naynaba Jadeja, who still is in the Congress, campaigned for the Congress candidate. She, however, dismissed speculation of a feud within the family.

Born in Rajkot to a businessman father Hardevsinh Solanki and Prafullaba, a housewife, she became active in the social service sector after she joined BJP and identifies it as her occupation too.

Major works include founding Matrushakti Charitable Trust, of which she is a managing trustee. A mechanical engineer by qualification, got involved in activities related to girl child education, women empowerment and spreading awareness for various schemes of the Central and state government.

A public spat, the video of which went viral, again brought the limelight to Rivaba in 2023. During a public event in Jamnagar she was seen getting embroiled in a heated verbal altercation with Jamnagar Mayor Bina Kothari in the presence of Poonam Maadam, Lok Sabha MP from Jamnagar. The incident drew criticism from the party as well as locals. However, both later addressed the media where Maadam referred to the matter as a “misunderstanding” and said the party was like a family, with Jadeja like a “younger sister.”

Having served as a corporator in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation for two terms, Darshana Vaghela has served as Deputy Mayor too from 2010 to 2013, president of Safai Kamdar Nigam, deputy chairman of health committee and is currently associated with the Valmiki Foundation.

A teacher and a former school principal, Vaghela is another first-time MLA from Asarwa constituency (a reserved seat for SC) in Ahmedabad. Her husband Mukesh is a government employee in LIC
For Manisha Vakil, third time MLA representing Vadodara City constituency, Friday’s induction as a Minister will not be the first.

She has been former Minister of State for Women and Child Development held as an independent charge from September 2021 to December 2022 and as the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment. Vakil is supervisor and teacher at Bright Day School in Vadodara.