Meet the lone woman minister Bhanuben Babariya in Gujarat cabinet 2.0

Ahmedabad : As many as 17 ministers took oath under the BJP-headed Gujarat government on Monday, including Bhupendra Patel, who sworn in to begin his second innings as the chief minister. Bhanuben Manoharbhai Babariya is the only woman to feature among the names of cabinet as well as state ministers.

Bhanuben Babariya defeated the AAP’s Vashrambhai Sagathiya by a margin of 48,494 votes to win the Rajkot Rural seat in the recently concluded Gujarat assembly election.

Elected as an MLA from Rajkot Rural in the recently concluded Gujarat assembly election, Babariya defeated her close rivals from Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Babariya won the assembly constituency by securing a whooping 119,695 (52.54 per cent) votes while the AAP’s Vashrambhai Sagathiya came second with 71,201 (31.25 per cent). The grand old party’s Bathwar Sureshkumar Karshanbhai was a distant third with 29,175 votes (12.81 per cent).

Who is Bhanuben Babariya?

Following the announcement of Gujarat assembly election results 2022, Babariya became an MLA for the third time. She is currently a councillor of Rajkot Municipal Corporation. In the past, she had won the assembly poll from Rajkot Rural twice – in 2007 and 2012. In 2012, she defeated Congress candidate Sagathiya Lakhabhai Jethabhai.