National News
Vijay Rupani sworn in as Chief Minister of Gujarat
Rupani's cabinet has 19 ministers, of whom only one is a woman.
The new BJP government led by Vijay Rupani was sworn in at a grand ceremony in the State capital of Gandhinagar on Tuesday. Governor Om Prakash Kohli administered the Oath of Office and Secrecy to 21 ministers including Mr. Rupani and his deputy Nitin Patel.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah, chief ministers of various BJP-ruled States, and other senior party leaders attended the function, which was held at the new Secretariat complex.
Along with Mr. Rupani as Chief Minister and Nitin Patel as his Deputy, a total of 19 ministers — nine of them in cabinet rank and 10 MoS — were sworn in.
Cabinet Ministers: Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, R.C Faldu, Kaushik Patel, Saurabh Patel, Ganpat Vasava, Jayesh Radadiya and Ishwarbhai R. Parmar.
MoS: Pradipsinh Jadeja, Parbatbhai Patel, Jaydrathsinh Parmar, Ramanlal Nanubhai Patkar, Parsottam Solanki, Ishwarsinh Patel, Vasanbhai Ahir, Kishor Kanani, Bachubhai Maganbhai Khabad, and Vibhavari Dave.
Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Babu Bokhiria, who won from Porbandar assembly seat, has been been dropped in the new government.
Before the swearing-in ceremony, Mr. Rupani, sporting an orange-coloured jacket, and Mr. Patel greeted the chief ministers of BJP-ruled states who came to attend the ceremony.
Mr. Rupani and his wife also offered prayers at the Panchdev Mahadev temple here before the swearing-in ceremony.
With 99 MLAs, the BJP has a simple majority in the 182-member Assembly, 16 less than its 2012 tally of 1915.
