In the December 2022 Gujarat Assembly elections, when the incumbent BJP returned to power by sweeping the polls, winning 156 of 182 seats — the largest-ever majority in the state’s history — many expected that the new ministry would be jumbo-sized in sync with the scale of the party’s victory. Instead, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel constituted a small ministry of 16 members, as he himself took charge of over a dozen portfolios, including those like urban development and revenue which had earlier been with other ministers.

The new 25-member ministry that CM Patel formed on Friday is comparatively younger, has a powerful Deputy CM in Harsh Sanghavi, and has more women, Dalit and tribal faces. The Cabinet overhaul has come ahead of the upcoming local elections, which would be a critical bel

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