Two Gujarat cabinet members divested of portfolios ahead of Assembly polls

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has stripped cabinet ministers Rajendra Trivedi and Purnesh Modi of the revenue and the road and building portfolios, respectively, ahead of the Assembly elections due later this year.

The CM will hold the additional charge of both the ministries as of now, while Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi has been given the additional responsibility of revenue as its MoS, BJP sources said on Saturday night. Minister of State for Industries and Forest and Environment, Jagdish Panchal, will be the MoS for road and building department, they said.

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Trivedi is now left with the disaster management, law and justice, legislative and parliamentary affairs department, while Modi will continue to hold charge of the transport, civil aviation, tourism and pilgrimage development departments.

Both Trivedi and Modi are among the 10 cabinet-rank ministers in the Bhupendra Patel government. Patel replaced Vijay Rupani as the chief minister last September when the entire Gujarat cabinet was asked to resign by the top BJP leadership.

The Gujarat Assembly elections are due in December this year.