Gujarat's Bhupendra Patel ministry has 7 OBCs, three Patidars

Aditi Tandon

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New Delhi, December 12

Two-time MLA from Ahmedabad’s Ghatlodia Bhupendra Patel began his second innings as Gujarat Chief Minister on Monday. He along with 16 ministers took oath of office at a ceremony in Gandhinagar, with top BJP brass led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in attendance.

Balancing act

Cabinet has 7 OBC leaders, three Patidars, two STs and one each from SC, Jain, Rajput and Brahmin communities to ensure representation to all segments

Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath of office to Patel, 60, who is the 18th CM of Gujarat.

Among the 16 ministers are 11 former ministers, with seven who were part of the Bhupendra Patel Cabinet formed in September 2021.

Eight were administered oath as Cabinet ministers (Kanu Desai, Rushikesh Patel, Bhanuben Babariya, Raghavji Patel, Balvantsinh Rajput, Kunvarji Bavaliya, Mulu Bera and Kuber Dindor); two Ministers of State with Independent charge (Harsh Sanghavi and Jagdish Vishwakarma) and six Ministers of State (Parshottam Solanki, Bachu Khabad, Mukesh Patel, Praful Pansheriya, Kunvarji Halpati and Bhikhusinh Parmar).

The seven ministers who were in the Patel Cabinet earlier also are Sanghavi Sanghvi, Vishwakarma, Desai, Rushikesh Patel, Raghavji Patel, Kuber Dindor and Mukesh Patel.

Bhanuben Babariya, a third-time MLA from Rajkot Rural reserved seat, is the sole woman in the Patel Cabinet which has seven OBC leaders, three Patidars, two STs and one of SC, Jain, Rajput and Brahmin leaders to ensure representation to all segments.

In a major strategic move today, the BJP has ensured five ministers, four of them with Cabinet ranks, from Saurashtra-Kutch which generously rewarded the party in 2022 elections with 46 seats out of 54 as against just 23 seats in 2017 polls. South Gujarat also has five ministers.

The balancing act, sources said, was aimed at the 2024 Lok Sabha polls with the BJP seeking to retain all 26 seats from the state, which it holds today.

Among Congress turncoats in the Patel cabinet are — Rajput, who voted against late Congress leader Ahmed Patel in the Rajya Sabha election from Gujarat; and Raghavji Patel, the seven-time MLA from Jamnagar, who had contested his first Assembly poll against late BJP CM Keshubhai Patel and lost; and Kunvarji Halpati.

After the oath-taking ceremony, PM Modi bowed to the gathering in deference to the historic December 8 mandate of a four-fifth majority in the state Assembly with the BJP bagging 156 of 182 seats.

BJP chief JP Nadda, Union Minister Amit Shah and CMs of BJP-ruled states — Yogi Adityanath (UP); Himanta Sarma (Assam); Shivraj Singh Chouhan (MP); Basavaraj Bommai (Karnataka) — were also present for the ceremony at the Vidhan Sabha’s Helipad Ground in Gandhinagar. Patel has opted for a lean Council of Ministers to start with. His previous Cabinet had 25 ministers, including himself.