A day ahead of the planned cabinet expansion in Gujarat, all 16 ministers except Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel resigned on Thursday. Sources said Patel has got the clearance of names to expand his cabinet on Friday. “Resignations of all the 16 ministers have been taken by the party. Except for the CM Patel, all the ministers have resigned,” sources in State Government confirmed. As per the official release, the cabinet expansion will take place at 11.30 am on Friday.
The present council of minister 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 BJP replacing Union minister CR Paatil. Bhupendra Patel became chief minister for the second time on December 12, 2022.
