Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel will expand her Cabinet and induct more Ministers on Wednesday. Currently, Anandiben has kept her Ministry compact with only 20 Ministers. Going by percentage, Patel is permitted maintain the Cabinet strength at 27. It means she has the liberty to induct seven more Ministers.
As part of pre-expansion of the Cabinet, Gujarat CM appointed five MlAs as the parliamentary secretaries as well as also announced sixty appointments into the State owned board and corporations last week. Anandiben had appointed Anjar MlAVasan Ahir, Patan MlA Ranchhod Desai, Kheralu MlA Bharatsinh Dabhi, Chotila MlA Shamji Chauhan and Kodinar MlA Jetha Solanki as the parliamentary secretaries.
This the first expansion of Anandiben Cabinet after she took over the reins as the Gujarat Chief Minister from her mentor Narendra Modi.
If sources in the State Government are to be believed, Patel is likely to induct five new Ministers and couple of existing Ministers of State maybe promoted as Cabinet-rank Minister. Former Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and Rajkot MlA Vijay Rupani, deputy Speaker in the Gujarat Assembly and former Forest Minister in previous Modi Government Mangubhai Patel, Koli leader from Saurshtra region and Rajula MlA Hira Solanki and Ellis bridge MlA from Ahmedabad Rakesh Shah are likely to be inducted in the Ministry. The two existing MoS - Vasuben Trivedi and Pradeepsinh Jadeja are likely to be promoted as Cabinet-rank Ministers.
Among the new Ministers, Rupani is likely to get a Cabinet rank. He recently won the by-election from Rajkot West Assembly constituency after Vajubhai Vala resigned as the MlA. Other names doing rounds are lathi MlA in Amreli district Bavku Undhad, Gir Somnath MlA Jasa Barad and Raman Patkar, MlA Umargaon. According to sources in BJP, the names could be changed at the last moment, but one thing is certain that the Gujarat CM would like to make the cabinet more representative as presently it is dominated by the MlAs from North Gujarat that include Anandiben herself.