Hiccups in Gujarat cabinet swearing in

Gandhinagar: The swearing in of the new members of the Gujarat cabinet, which was expected to take place on Wednesday, has been postponed to 1.30 pm on Thursday.

While the Gujarat chief minister was replaced in a surprise move with first-time MLA Bhupendra Patel replacing Vijay Rupani on Monday, the new Cabinet is expected to go in for a major rejig, leaving out the old guard and non-performers.

The move may end the political careers of many so-called heavy weights. For the first time in the last two decades, the legislators are refusing to accept such a move in silence. A source in the BJP said that at least four to five seniors are refusing to go with the party decision while several are lobbying either for themselves or candidates of their choice.

A series of meetings is being held at Gujarat BJP president CR Patil’s residence to enforce the party’s decision without a glitch and bring the miffed, soon to be “former ministers”, around. Banners put up announcing the swearing-in on Wednesday were removed as the day progressed and Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel finally announced through his official twitter handle that the event will take place on Thursday.

Sources told ET that some senior ministers who are dreading the end of their careers have dug in their heels and are being “unusually rigid”. “We haven’t seen such a situation in the party since 1995,” the source admitted.

With the BJP changing its chief minister in Gujarat, retaining the rest of the cabinet would have defeated the purpose as the six-term anti-incumbency juxtaposed with the economic situation of the state and the pandemic have cast a shadow on the electoral prospects of the ruling party in the home state of the Prime Minister and the Union home minister.

While the party is aiming to create a new cabinet with educated tech-savvy young faces, supporters of at least two leaders –– Kunvarji Bavaliya of Saurashtra and Dilip Thakore of North Gujarat –– have started mobilising support. Bavaliya, a Congress turncoat, was inducted into the BJP and given a cabinet berth in July 2018 ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Bavaliya’s supporters took to social media while Thakore’s supporters threatened mass resignation in case they are dropped from the cabinet.

However, BJP spokesperson Yamal Vyas maintained that the party has its house in order. “Neither the party, nor the government had officially announced that the swearing-in was to take place on Wednesday and as soon as a decision was arrived at, the Chief Minister announced it on twitter,” Vyas said. Asked about the banners first being put up announcing that the event was on Wednesday and then removed, Vyas blamed a possible miscommunication between the departments and the agency tasked for the job.