Gandhinagar,
Maintaining the continuity in functioning, a 20-member two-tier BJP ministry headed by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani was installed in the office in Gujarat today with Patidar leader Nitin Patel as his deputy.

Rupani, Patel and 18 others eight Cabinet rank and 10 ministers of state were administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor OP Kohli in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah and CMs of the 18 BJP-ruled states. Veteran BJP leader LK Advani also attended the ceremony held at the Helipad ground adjacent to the state secretariat complex in Gandhinagar.

Three former CMs Keshubhai Patel, who was overthrown by Modi in 2001, Shankarsinh Vaghela, who resigned from the Congress four months ago, and Anandiben Patel were also present. It was the first time since 1995 when Vaghela revolted against the Keshubhai Patel ministry and parted company with the BJP that the three leaders — Modi, Patel and Vaghela — were present on the same dais and shook hands with each other. It was Vaghela who was instrumental in getting Modi banished from Gujarat in 1995 before he returned as the Chief Minister six years later and were since sworn enemies.

For Rupani, who was sworn-in as the 16th CM, it was the second consecutive term but first for a full five-year term. He was first chosen the CM in August 2016, to succeed the first and only woman CM Anandiben Patel who was forced to quit for alleged mishandling of the Patidar quota stir and other caste-based agitations but on the ground of attaining 75 years of age, an unwritten retirement age for the BJP leaders set by Modi. Nitin Patel too continues his deputy chief ministership from the previous Rupani ministry.

Besides Rupani and Nitin Patel, five of the eight cabinet ministers and five of the 10 ministers of state have been continued from the previous Rupani ministry. But even of the remaining, barring three ministers of state, the rest had served in one ministry or the other while number three in the cabinet, RC Faldu, is a former state unit president of the BJP for two consecutive terms.

Minister of State Vibhavari Dave is the only woman member in the Cabinet.

Barring Rupani and Patel, the Cabinet ministers sworn-in today are RC Faldu, Bhupendrasinh Chudasma, Kaushik Patel, Saurabh Patel, Ganpat Vasava, Jayesh Radariya, Dillip Thakor and Ishwar Parmar. The Ministers of State are: Pradipsinh Jadeja, Parbat Patel, Parshottam Solanki, Bachubhai Khabad, Jaydrathsinh Parmar, Ishwarsinh Patel, Vasan Ahir, Vibhavari Dave, Raman Patkar and Kishore Kanani.

A close confidant of Amit Shah, Rupani was born in Rangoon (now Yangon, Myanmar), in 1956 but his family shifted to Rajkot when he was only four years old. Right from childhood he was associated with the RSS and an active member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. He was chairman of the standing committee of the Rajkot municipal corporation for six years and mayor for two years.

Rupani was elected to the Rajya Sabha for one term from 2006. His meteoric rise started from 2014 when he contested the state Assembly byelection from Rajkot West, the seat vacated by Vajubhai Vala on his appointment as the Karnataka Governor. He was appointed the state unit president of the BJP in February 2016, and within months elevated to the office of the chief minister to succeed Anandiben Patel.