New Gujarat Cabinet To Take Oath Today Amid Dissent Over Sackings
New Delhi: The BJP had expected the change of guard in Gujarat to be smooth and every one indications were that was how it had been getting to be with the Chief Minister’s swearing-in going off without a hiccup. Vijay Rupani resigned without protest and Bhupendra Patel took charge with none opposition apart from a couple of murmurs of dissent from the previous Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, who had expected the post would come to him.
However, the oath ceremony of the new cabinet of Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel — slated to be persisted Wednesday — was deferred at the eleventh hour after elaborate arrangements were made at the Governor’s house and enormous hoardings were put up. Sources indicated that differences over the new council of ministers are the rationale for the sudden rescheduling.
The oath ceremony will happen this afternoon at 1:30 at the Raj Bhavan in Gandhinagar. The Chief Minister’s Office tweeted on Wednesday saying, “The swearing-in ceremony of the new cabinet of CM Shri @Bhupendrapbjp will happen tomorrow, September 16, 2021 at 1.30 pm at Raj Bhavan, Gandhinagar.”
Sources have indicated that several senior ministers who fear they’re being dropped aren’t willing to offer in. And among them is Nitin Patel who is fighting to stay his place as Deputy Chief Minister.
However, sources indicate that chances of a revolt are minimal because the entire exercise is being engineered by Amit Shah on the insistence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi after reports that winning in Gujarat could become a challenge if Vijay Rupani had continued as Chief Minister.
“Even the highest leaders will need to accept regardless of the leadership says due to the stature of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah and no politician, especially within the BJP in Gujarat, can openly challenge the calls they take,” an MLA, asking to not be named, told NDTV.
Home Minister Amit Shah had held a series of meetings after the swearing-in ceremony of Bhupendra Patel on Monday to mapped out the problems over the council of ministers and therefore the new cabinet. Sources say today’s swearing-in goes to be the results of those deliberations and this is often the setting in motion of the plans for 2022.
