Ahead of a major Cabinet reshuffle, all ministers in the Gujarat government, except Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, tendered their resignations on Thursday.
The chief minister has accepted their resignations and is expected to meet Governor Acharya Devvrat later in the evening to form the new cabinet.
The current cabinet of 16 members is expected to expand to 26. The move is seen as part of an administrative overhaul ahead of key political developments in the state.
According to sources, Harsh Sanghavi and Rushikesh Patel are likely to be the only ministers to be retained in the new cabinet. Around 10 new ministers are likely to be inducted, while nearly half of the current ministers may be replaced as part of the reshuffle.
Fresh and young faces are also likely to be inducted into the new cabinet, they said.
It has also been reported that BJP national president J P Nadda is scheduled to meet all the Gujarat MLAs. Nadda’s visit comes just days after a high-level meeting took place at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence, where Union ministers Amit Shah and C R Paatil, and Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel discussed changes in the state cabinet.
Party insiders said Nadda’s visit is aimed at giving final approval to the reshuffle and reviewing the party’s strategy to strengthen its position in Gujarat. The reshuffle comes days after the appointment of new BJP state president Jagdish Vishwakarma.
Sources indicate that the new expansion is expected to fill vacant chambers in the Swarnim Sankul government complex, indicating the likely addition of new faces.
The new cabinet will be sworn on Friday at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar, in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Nadda.
Party sources claimed that Gujarat BJP president Jagdish Vishwakarma played a key role in coordinating the resignations and communicating the leadership’s plan. The reshuffle is being seen as a strategic effort by the BJP to inject new energy into the state government, while balancing caste and regional representation ahead of the next electoral cycle.
The Gujarat Assembly elections will take place in 2027. Also, ahead of the 2027 state polls, the state BJP will be looking to test new equations, as the AAP, led by young leader Gopal Italia, continues to make inroads into the Patidar stronghold of the BJP.