Gujarat's representation in Modi govt drops to 6 in third term

Ahmedabad: The number of Gujarat MPs inducted into the third government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has come down to six compared to seven in the second term.

Amit Shah, Mansukh Mandaviya and S Jaishankar were sworn in as cabinet ministers for the second consecutive time on Sunday.

The new entrants in the list from Gujarat are state BJP chief and Navsari MP CR Paatil, party president and Rajya Sabha member JP Nadda and Bhavnagar MP Nimuben Bambhaniya.

Shah and Mandaviya are Lok Sabha members, while Jaishankar is the Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat.

Rajkot MP Parshottam Rupala, who was a minister in the previous government, has been dropped this time.

He was at the centre of a controversy over a remark which enraged the Khastriya/Rajput community during the Lok Sabha poll campaign.

A three-term Rajya Sabha member, Rupala had served as minister in both the previous Modi governments. He was the Union Minister of State for agriculture, farmers welfare and panchayati raj between 2016 and 2021. From July 2021, he was Union minister of fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying.

Devusinh Chauhan, MP from Kheda, was also dropped this time. He had previously served as the Union MoS for communication.

Mahendra Munjpara, who served as the MoS for women and child development in the previous government, was not given a ticket by the party to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

Darshana Jardosh, who was the MoS for railways and textiles in the second Modi government, did not contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.