PM Modi congratulates new ministers in Gujarat govt

In a tweet, the Prime Minister said: "Congratulations to all Party colleagues who have taken oath as Ministers in the Gujarat Government."

"These are outstanding Karyakartas who have devoted their lives to public service and spreading our Party’s development agenda. Best wishes for a fruitful tenure ahead," Modi said.

Twenty-four new ministers were sworn in on Thursday in Gujarat, days after Bhupendra Patel replaced Vijay Rupani as the Chief Minister of the state.

The change of face for BJP, a little over a year ahead of the next Assembly polls in the state, came after Rupani resigned from the Chief Minister's post on Sept 11.

Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat administered oath to the ministers, including Rajendra Trivedi who resigned as the Assembly speaker ahead of the swearing in.

Kiritsinh Rana, who served as a minister in Gujarat earlier, Raghavji Patel, who quit Congress to join BJP after the 2017 Assembly election, and former state BJP chief Jitu Vaghani are among the ministers.

Two women - Manisha Vakil and Nimisha Suthar - were also sworn in.

The 24 ministers include Rushikesh Patel, Naresh Patel, Mohanbhai Dodiya, Brijesh Merja, Harsh Sanghvi, Arvind Raiani, Kuber Dindor and Mukesh Patel.

The oath-taking ceremony was scheduled to be held on Wednesday. However, it was postponed by a day as party leaders held marathon meetings to decide the new faces for ministership.