Gandhinagar:Vijay Rupani was today sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Gujarat heading a 25-member ministry in which nine from the previous cabinet, including some considered as loyalists of his predecessor Anandiben Patel, were dropped.

Nitin Patel took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister, a post created for the first time in the state which goes to polls next year.

Governor O P Kohli administered the oath of office and secrecy to 60-year-old Rupani, a first time MLA who is considered close to BJP president Amit Shah, and Nitin Patel at a grand ceremony attended by top BJP leaders. Rupani is the 16th chief minister of Gujarat.

Ahead of 2017 Assembly polls in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state, BJP appears to have tried to strike a caste balance by inducting eight Patel leaders, eight OBCs, three from Kshatriya community, two representatives of tribal community and one each from Brahmin, Jain, Sindhi and Dalit communities in the new council of ministers.

There is also an attempt to give representation to all regions: Saurashtra, north, south and central Gujarat. The cabinet has only one woman, Nirmala Wadhwani, MLA from Naroda.

Eight cabinet-rank ministers, including Nitin Patel, and 16 ministers of state in all were sworn in. The total strength the ministry including the Chief Minister is 25.

A devoted RSS member since his school days, Rupani, hailing from politically significant Saurashtra region, is known for his hard work but keeps a low profile.

The ceremony was held at Mahatma Mandir here in the presence of top BJP leaders including its president Amit Shah, veteran leader L K Advani, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Union Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan.

Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Haryana — Devendra Fadnavis, Raghubar Das and Manohar Lal Khattar, respectively — were also there. Anandiben Patel was also present.

Former Minister of State for Home Rajnibhai Patel and Women and Child Development Minister Vasuben Trivedi, both considered as loyalists of Anandiben, were dropped from the new cabinet.

Others who were dropped from the ministry include Finance Minister Saurabh Patel, Social Justice Minister Ramanlal Vora and MoS for Science and Technology Govind Patel.

Talking to reporters after the oath taking ceremony, Rupani indicated that allocation of portfolios may take place tomorrow. “Our first cabinet meet will take place tomorrow.

We will discuss the roadmap of Gujarat’s future,” he said.

On August 3, Anandiben Patel submitted her resignation to the Governor after BJP parliamentary board accepted her offer to quit the post.

On Friday, the BJP central leadership chose Rupani for the Chief Minister’s post instead of Nitin Patel who was considered top contender for the job in the poll-bound state.

BJP replaced Patel with a new CM as it was facing tough challenges in the form of Patel quota agitation and recent protest by Dalit community over cow vigilantism. Assembly elections are due by 2017-end.

The eight cabinet ministers who took oath today are: Nitin Patel, Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, Ganpat Vasava, Babu Bokhiria, Dilip Thakor, Jayesh Radadiya, Chiman Saparaia and Atmaram Parmar.

Chudasama and Bokhiria served as cabinet ministers in the Anandiben Patel government, while Thakor and Radadiya were MoS. Vasava was the Speaker of Assembly, while Parmar was the Deputy Speaker.

Rajnibhai Patel, Vasuben Trivedi, Chhatrasinh Mori, Govind Patel, Tarachand Chheda and Kantibhai Gamit have also been shown the door.

Of the 16 Ministers of State, eight were also part of the previous ministry.

Nitin Patel told reporters that various geographical and social factors had to be kept in mind while finalising the council of ministers.

“Cabinet is formed keeping in mind various geographical and social factors. Those who are not part of cabinet now have also done a wonderful job and I am sure that those who have been inducted today will also work for the betterment of the society,” said Patel.

The Ministers of State retained from previous ministry include Shanker Chaudhary, Pradeepsinh Jadeja, Jayanti Kavadiya, Nanubhai Vanani, Parshottam Solanki, Jasa Barad, Bachu Khabad and Jaydrathsinh Parmar.

The eight new faces are: Ishwarsinh Patel, Vallabh Kakadiya, Rajendra Trivedi, Keshaji Chauhan, Rohit Patel, Vallabh Vaghasiya, Nirmala Wadhwani and Shabdsharan Tadvi.

Senior minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama expressed confidence that BJP will retain the power in 2017.

“We don’t see any problem….as we always keep our feet on the ground and work for development of the people. There is absolutely no doubt about the fact that we will win with huge majority in 2017,” said Chudasama when asked if Patel agitation or Dalit anger would hamper BJP’s chances.

PTI