Bhupendra Patel Sworn in as Gujarat Cm for Second Time – A Look at His Cabinet

On Monday, Bhupendra Patel was sworn in as Chief Minister of Gujarat. He grabbed the CM post for the second time after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) retained power in the state in a historic victory. The BJP had crossed the majority bar in the Gujarat Assembly election in 2022 and emerged victorious in 156 out of 182 houses of assembly.

Apart from Bhupendra Patel, around 15 other ministers and minister of state were sworn in during the ceremony. These include:

Kanubhai Mohanlal Desai:

Kanubhai Desai won the Pardi seat with over 1.2 lakh votes. He surpassed Hemant Manubhai Desai of Congress by 37,311 votes. Desai was previously the former finance minister of Gujarat.

Follow live updates on Bhupendra Patel’s swearing-in ceremony here:

Rushikesh Ganeshbhai Patel: He was Minister of Health and Family Welfare of Gujarat. He was responsible for the health portfolio during the COVID pandemic. Patel won the Visnagar seat, beating Kirit Patel of Congress.

Balvantsinh Chandansinh Rajput: Balwantsinh Rajput won the Assembly constituency of Sidhpur after defeating Chandanji Thakor of Congress and Mahendra Rajput of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Rajput had resigned from Congress in July 2017.

Raghvajibhai Hansrajbhai Patel: He was Minister of Agriculture in the outgoing government of Bhupendra Patel. He retained his seat in Jamnagar Rural, beating AAP’s Prakash Donga by 47,500 votes.

Parsottam Solanki: He is a five-time MP and won the constituency of Bhavnagar Rural in the Saurashtra region. He won the Koli community-dominated seat by comfortable margins.

Kunwar Ji Mohanbhai Bavaliya: He is the former Minister of Water Supply. He had moved to the Congress BJP in 2018. Bavaliya won the Assembly constituency of Jasdan, beating his former wonderkid Bholabhai Gohil.

Harsh Sanghavi: Sanghavi has won Majura since 2012. He held the all-important house portfolio as MoS in the outgoing government of Bhupendra Patel. He was also responsible for the revenue portfolio.

Bhanu bin Babaria: Babariya won Rajkot Rural for the third time this election year. She is a practicing corporator at Rajkot Municipal Corporation. Babaria was elected to the SC seat in 2007 and 2012. She was later fired and spent four years on the sidelines, News 18 reported.

Kuberbhai Mansukhbhai Dindor: He won the seat of Santrampur after beating Gendalbhai Motibhai Damor of Congress by 15,577 votes. He retained the Santrampur seat after winning it in 2017.

Bachubhai Khabad: Khabad, Devgadbariya constituency, beating AAP’s Vakhala Bharatsinh Pratapbhai by more than 44,000 votes. He has held the seat since 2012.

Jagdish Vishwakarma: He was Minister of Industry in the previous government. He received an additional portfolio of roads and buildings when Purnesh Modi was relieved of it. He won the constituency of Nikol from the city of Ahmedabad, beating Ranjitsinh Barad from Congress.

Mukesh Patel: Mukesh Patel won the key Mehsana constituencies, battling against Bhagat Patel of Congress and PK Patel of AAP. The BJP has retained Mehsana’s seat for the most part since 1990.

Bhikhusinhji Chatursinhji Parmar: Arvalli Bhikhubhai Parmar won the Congress-held constituency of Modasa after losing elections for the seat in 2017. Parmar defeated Congress’ Rajendrasinh Thakor who had held the seat since 2012.

Praful Pancheriya: Panseria won the seat of Kamrej while facing prominent faces from the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS). Panseria won the seat by a voting margin of 74,697.

The other ministers who were sworn in on Monday were:

(With input from News 18)

First post: December 12, 2022, 2:57 PM STI