Four Gujarat junior ministers join Team Modi

Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi today expanded his Council of Ministers by inducting four new members.

Governor Kamla administered the oath of office to the four ministers of state in a swearing ceremony at Raj Bhawan here.

The strength of Modi's Ministry now stands at 21.

The new ministers are Kanu Bhalala, Vasubhen Trivedi, Pradipsinh Jadeja and Praful Patel. Their portfolios are likely to be announced later in the day.

The strength of Modi's Ministry had come down to 17 following the resignation of Amit Shah and Maya Kodnani, who were arrested in the Sohrabuddin Shiekh fake encounter and 2002 Naroda Patiya riot cases, respectively.

The expansion comes just ahead of elections in six municipal corporations - Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, Jamnagar and Bhavnagar.

The municipal polls, likely in October/November, will be followed by elections to 20 district panchayats and 150 taluka panchayats by the year-end.