Narendra Modi expands cabinet

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi expanded his cabinet with the induction of 18 ministers here on Friday.

Gandhinagar, Jan 4 : Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi expanded his cabinet with the induction of 18 ministers here on Friday.

The ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Nawal Kishore Sharma at a ceremony on the lawns of Gujarat Assembly.

Nine of the ministers sworn-in were of cabinet rank. They are Vaju Vala, Narottam Patel, Anandiben Patel, Amit Shah, Saurab Patel, Ramanlal Vora, Mangubhai Patel, Jaswantsinh Babhor and Purshottam Solanki.

The new faces are Nitin Patel, Dilip Sanghani, Fakir Vaghela, Jaynarayan Vyas, Maya Kodnani, Kiritsinh Rana, Parbat Patel, Jaysinh Chauhan and Vasan Ahir.

The Modi Government came back to power winning 117 seats in the 182-member Assembly.

Modi became Chief Minister for the third consecutive time on December 25.

He first became Gujarat's Chief Minister in October 2001 after his predecessor Keshubhai Patel resigned following the defeat of the BJP in by-elections.

He was re-elected as chief minister in December 2002 after the BJP won with 127 assembly seats in the 182-State Assembly.

ANI