Gujarat cabinet expansion: All 16 ministers submit resignations to CM Bhupendra Patel

A day ahead of the planned cabinet expansion in Gujarat, all 16 ministers except Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel resigned on Thursday, according to news agency PTI, citing BJP sources.

Patel will expand his cabinet on Friday, October 17, the state government had announced earlier in the morning.

Resignations of all 16 ministers have been accepted by the party. Except for Chief Minister Patel, all the ministers have resigned,” the BJP source told PTI.

According to the official release, the cabinet expansion is scheduled to take place at 11:30 a.m. 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).

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 unit, replacing Union minister C R Paatil.

Bhupendra Patel became chief minister for the second time on 12 December 2022.