All 16 ministers in Gujarat submit resignations to CM Patel ahead of cabinet expansion

GANDHINAGAR — A day ahead of the planned cabinet expansion in Gujarat, all 16 ministers except Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel resigned on Thursday, sources in the ruling BJP said.

Patel will expand his cabinet on Friday, the state government had announced earlier in the morning.

"Resignations of all the 16 ministers have been taken by the party. Except for chief minister Patel, all the ministers have resigned," said a BJP source.

An official release said the cabinet expansion will take place at 11.30 am on Friday.

The present council of ministers has 17 members, including CM Patel. Eight of them are cabinet-rank ministers while the others are Ministers of State (MoS).

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The party sources said around 22 ministers will be sworn in with around six ministers in the present council of ministers being retained.

BJP president and Union minister J P Nadda reached Gandhinagar on Thursday evening and held meetings with CM Patel and other senior leaders of the party.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is also likely to attend the oath-taking ceremony of new ministers of the BJP government on Friday, the party sources said.

Gujarat, which has a 182-member assembly, can have a maximum of 27 ministers (15 per cent of the strength of the House).

Earlier this month, MoS Jagdish Vishwakarma became the new president of the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unit, replacing Union minister C R Paatil. Vishwakarma will not be included in the council of ministers this time due to the BJP's 'one person, one post' policy, the party sources said.

Bhupendra Patel became chief minister for the second time on December 12, 2022. Patel recently completed five years in office.