Even as Bhupendra Patel is set to swear in as chief minister of Gujarat on Monday for a second term, the new cabinet is expected to be a mix of old hands and first-time MLAs.
The BJP legislators on Saturday unanimously agreed on Patel as their leader at a meeting held at the state party’s headquarters Shree Kamalam, near Gandhinagar. Rajnath Singh, B S Yediyurappa and Arjun Munda were present as observers.
In the Gujarat Assembly elections results declared on December 8, BJP broke all its records as it secured 156 out of 182 assembly seats. Earlier, the record was of 149 seats set by Madhavsinh Solanki of the Congress in 1985.
By bagging 156 seats, the BJP decimated the Congress. It could only secure 17 seats and the new entrant Aam Aadmi Party had won 5 seats. Samajwadi Party won one seat and three went to Independents.
The BJP’s campaign was led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and was supported by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and a battery of union ministers and chief ministers of BJP-led states.
Sources said that the party would put its best foot forward and have a mix of old-timers and newcomers as they finalize the names of MLAs who will find a place in the new cabinet.
Having given the BJP a landslide victory, the masses of Gujarat have high expectations from the government.
The cabinet could be of about 25 ministers, considering the huge mandate that the party has received, said sources.
Among the prominent names doing rounds to be ministers include Harsh Sanghvi and Rushikesh Patel, ministers in the previous government; former minister Shanker Chaudhary and OBC leader Alpesh Thakor, whose win is a first on BJP ticket.
Though the BJP has been saying that it seeks votes on the basis of development, it is almost certain that caste equations will be taken into consideration while deciding who gets into the cabinet.
The grapevine is that Ritesh Vasava, who emerged giant killer by defeating seven-time MLA Chhotu Vasava of the Bharatiya Tribal Party from Jhagadia, may also find a place in the cabinet. Ritesh had long worked with Chhotu and then switched loyalty to the BJP.
The chances of having a tribal becoming a minister from South Gujarat is more as the BJP has put up a good show in the tribal belt stretching from Ambaji in the north to Umargaon in the South.
Having a tribal as a minister from South Gujarat will also be important as even during a total wave in favour of the BJP, Congress’ Vansda candidate Anant Patel succeeded in winning again with a double margin as compared to 2017.
The saffron party has a lot of new faces, including women candidates.
If one considers central Gujarat, from Vadodara they had first-time MLAs, Balkrishna Shukla and Chaitanya Desai. Desai’s father Makrand Desai was one of the founding members of the party in Gujarat.
Going to Saurashtra, there are plenty of choices for the party. They have Kantibhai Amrutiya, who won from Morbi, and Darshita Shah from Rajkot (West), who won from the seat earlier represented by former chief minister Vijay Rupani.
Amrutiya had carried out rescue work during the Morbi bridge collapse last month. One hundred and thirty persons had lost lives.
Patel and Gujarat BJP president C R Paatil are to leave for New Delhi later on during the day. They will call on the Prime Minister.