BJP pulls out old Gujarat playbook: Entire Cabinet resigns, CM Patel’s new team likely today

This will be the biggest overhaul since September 11, 2021 when the then Chief Minister, the late Vijay Rupani, and his entire government resigned to make way for Patel.

The move Thursday came days after Minister of State Jagdish Vishwakarma was elected Gujarat BJP president.

Sources said Governor Acharya Devvrat is likely to administer the oath of office Friday to the new ministers in a possibly expanded Cabinet.

Senior BJP leaders, including party president and Union Minister J P Nadda and party national general secretary Sunil Bansal, are expected to attend the ceremony. While Bansal was already in Gandhinagar, Nadda who arrived Thursday late evening, had a meeting with Chief minister Patel immediately that lasted around three hours, said sources.

Devvrat, who was given additional charge of the post of Maharashtra Governor, was in Mumbai when the resignations were submitted. He was to return late Thursday for the swearing-in Friday.

The resignations of all ministers – eight of Cabinet rank and eight Ministers of State – fuelled speculation that several “non-performing” members would be dropped.

The reshuffle, sources said, received the go-ahead after Patel and Vishwakarma met the party’s top leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in New Delhi recently.

With 27 being the maximum permissible strength of the Cabinet, the new Council of Ministers is likely to be larger than the outgoing one. Vishwakarma, now BJP state president, is unlikely to get a ministerial berth. Sources also indicated that Bachu Khabad may be dropped following the arrest of his sons in the alleged MGNREGA scam.

Party insiders said the leadership is keen to ensure caste, gender and regional balance in the new team. Of the BJP’s 14 women MLAs, Rajkot Rural MLA Bhanuben Babariya was the only one to serve as minister.

It also remains to be seen whether the BJP rewards Arjun Modhwadia and C J Chavda who crossed over from the Congress and won Assembly bypolls on BJP tickets.

The changes in the government are expected to influence the party organisation as well. Vishwakarma is yet to announce his team, and sources said both the new Cabinet and the organisational set-up will face an immediate test in the local body elections due early next year.

Patel was sworn in as Chief Minister for the second time in December 2022 after a landslide in which the BJP secured 162 of the 182 Assembly seats.– With Ritu Sharma