Bhupendra Patel's New Cabinet Takes Oath In Gujarat, First Meeting This Evening
NDTV
in presence of Bhupendra Patel and his predecessor Vijay Rupani, Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath of office to 10 cabinet ministers and 14 ministers of state, including five ministers of state with independent charge
A brand new cabinet took oath in Gujarat today -- with Bhupendra Patel at its head -- over-riding protests by former ministers who had to step down along with former Chief Minister Vijay Rupani last week. The outcome was inevitable, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home minister Amit Shah pushing for a complete change of guard ahead of next year's assembly elections in the state.
Still for over 24 hours, the dissent, accompanied by a flurry of meetings, caused considerable disruption that ended with the oath ceremony being pushed back by a day.
The dissidents who wanted to be part of the new cabinet -- including Mr Rupani's deputy Nitin Patel -- were dropped. Sources had indicated that they will have to capitulate, given the backing this hard reboot has.
"Even the top leaders will have to accept whatever the leadership says because of the stature of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah and no politician, especially in the BJP in Gujarat, can openly challenge the calls they take," an MLA told NDTV off the record.
