‘Complaints of inefficiency’: Rajendra Trivedi, Purnesh Modi lose cabinet portfolios

The reshuffle came ahead of BJP General Secretary BL Santhosh’s visit to the state Sunday.

Trivedi, an MLA from Raopura constituency in Vadodara, will continue to hold charge of Disaster Management Law and Justice, Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs. Surat West MLA Modi will continue to hold the charge of Civil Aviation, Transport, Tourism and Pilgrimage Development.

Top government sources told The Indian Express that the decision came after the “CM admonished them recently” following complaints of corruption and inefficiency against the duo.

Gujarat BJP President CR Paatil was also considering the complaints and was “unhappy with their performance” in a year when the party aims a record win in the upcoming assembly elections.

A first-time minister, Modi had, in July, launched an app named after him to enable people to reach out to the government over complaints regarding roads and building infrastructure. The move came after roads had broken or were pot-holed in several parts of the state, including Surat, following heavy rain.

Earlier this month, he flagged off 75 buses carrying 4,000 senior citizens—mostly from his constituency—on a pilgrimage to Somnath and other sites under the state government’s newly amended Shravan Tirth Darshan Yojana. Modi was unavailable for comment.

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Within months of becoming a minister, Trivedi made headlines by going live on Facebook when paying “surprise visits” to revenue offices with camera persons in tow.

“Party leaders were unhappy with the ministers being less efficient in dealing with complaints as much as they were concerned about their own publicity,” said a source.

Trivedi was Assembly Speaker in the former Vijay Rupani government and had previously served as a junior minister.