Bhupendra Patel sworn in Gujarat CM, sixteen ministers also take charge

In a star-studded function, 60-year-old Bhupendra Patel on Monday took oath as the Gujarat chief minister for the second time in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, other central ministers, CMs of BJP-ruled states, and top party leaders.

Along with Patel, sixteen other BJP MLAs were also sworn in as ministers, eight of whom are of Cabinet rank. Out of sixteen ministers, seven belong to the majority OBC community, three from influential Patidar, two tribals and one each from Schedule Caste, Brahmin, Jain and Rajput. Most of these ministers are from the Saurashtra region, followed by south and central Gujarat.

Read | Bhupendra Patel, soft-spoken face of BJP in Gujarat, is CM for second straight term

Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath to Patel and other ministers in the function held at Helipad Ground near the secretariat in Gandhinagar. After the function, Patel visited Trimurti Temple in Adalaj, Gandhinagar, for blessings and, later in the evening, held the first Cabinet meeting at the secretariat and allotted portfolios.

Three of these ministers are Congress turncoats — Rajput, Raghavji Patel and Bavaliya. Rajput, a businessman, had joined BJP in 2017 during the highly contested Rajya Sabha election when Congress leader Ahmed Patel had narrowly won. Raghavji Patel is also a former Congress leader who switched to BJP in 2017. Similarly, Bavaliya defected to BJP in 2018 and was a minister in the Vijay Rupani government.

Harsh Sanghavi from Surat and Jagdish Vishwakarma from Ahmedabad were sworn in as state ministers with independent charges.

The remaining six ministers include Parshottam Solanki, Bachu Khabad, Mukesh Patel, Praful Pansheriya, Kuvarji Halpati and Bhikhusinh Parmar. Solanki, who has been given the charge of fisheries, is facing charges of a Rs 400 crore scam when had the same portfolio in 2008 during Narendra Modi-led government.