The new BJP government led by Vijay Rupani will take the oath of office and secrecy at a grand ceremony in the State capital of Gandhinagar on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah, senior party leaders and the Chief Ministers of the States ruled by the National Democratic Alliance, besides saints and religious leaders of various sects and faiths, will attend the function to be held at the new Secretariat complex, Gujarat BJP chief Jitu Vaghani said in a statement.
More members
In addition to Mr. Rupani and his deputy, Nitin Patel, several leaders will be sworn in as Ministers by Governor O.P. Kohli. The BJP Legislature Party elected Mr. Rupani and Mr. Nitin Patel after party observers Arun Jaitley and Saroj Pandey named them at a meeting with top leaders and elected representatives. “BJP president Amit Shah and the CM and the deputy CM will decide the names of the Cabinet,” a senior party leader told The Hindu .
The Cabinet is likely to have new members because six Ministers and Speaker Ramanlal Vora lost the polls. However, those who won the polls are expected to make it to the Ministry again.
The Ministers who lost are Chimanbhai Saparia (Energy and Agriculture), Atmaram Parmar (Social Justice, Women and Child Development) and Shankar Chaudhary (Health), besides two junior Ministers.
Depleted strength
In the recently held Assembly polls, the ruling party won for the sixth consecutive time but its tally came down to 99, its lowest since 1995 when the party stormed into power in the State for the first time.
With 99 MLAs, the BJP has a simple majority in the 182-member Assembly, 16 fewer than its 2012 tally of 115.
The Opposition Congress, which won 61 seats in 2012, increased its tally to 77.
The strength of the Congress and its allies in the new House is 80.
