The Hindu Business Line : 10 new faces in Modi’s 18-member ministry

Gandhinagar, Jan 4 The Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi today dropped seven old faces and inducted 18 ministers, including 10 new faces, into his two-tier ministry. Their portfolios are likely to be announced soon. While Mr Anil Patel, who was Minister of State (MoS) for Industry , was not inducted this time, Mr Saurabh Patel, the MoS for Energy in the previous ministry, was retained without promotion. The Governor, Mr Naval Kishore Sharma administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers at a function held in the Gujarat Vidhan Sabha premises here today.

The Cabinet Ministers sworn-in today are: Mr Vajubhai Vala, Mrs Anandiben Patel, Mr Narottam Patel, Mr Raman Vora, Mr Mangubhai Patel,Mr Jai Narayan Vyas, Mr Dilip Sanghani, Mr Nitin Patel and Mr Fakirbhai Vaghela. The MoS are: Mr Amit Shah, Mr Saurabh Patel, Mr Purushottam Solanki, Mr Jaswant Bhabhor, Mrs Mayaben Kodnani, Mr Kiritsinh Rana, Mr Vasan Ahir, Mr Jaisinh Chouhan and Mr Parbat Patel. Those dropped this time included Mr Ashok Bhatt, Mr Anil Patel and Mr Bharat Barot. Gujarat now has a 19-member Ministry, including Mr Modi, who was sworn-in as the Chief Minister for the third time on December 25, 2007, at a glittering ceremony in the presence of a mammoth crowd and leaders of the NDA at Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad. In contrast, today’s function was low-key.