Bhupendra Patel to Take Oath as Gujarat CM for 2nd Term on Monday; Modi, Shah to Attend Ceremony

Two days after the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) registered a thumping win in the Gujarat assembly elections, Bhupendra Patel met Governor Acharya Devvrat at Raj Bhavan and staked claim to form a government. He is all set to assume the Chief Minister post for a second term, and will take the oath on Monday. Several newly-elected MLAs of the BJP will also join him.

Bhupendra Patel will continue as the Chief Minister of Gujarat for a second straight term with the newly-elected MLAs of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) electing him as leader of the legislative party on Saturday. The Governor invited Patel to form government and take oath at 2 pm on Monday.

“Will carry out responsibility assigned to me with full devotion”

Bhupendra Patel took to Twitter on Saturday and expressed his gratitude to the BJP cadre for opting to make him the CM of Gujarat for a second term. “I express my gratitude to the entire BJP family for electing me as the leader of the assembly party in the presence of central observers in the meeting of elected MLAs of Bharatiya Janata Party.” he tweeted.

Addressing a press conference after the legislative party meeting at the state BJP headquarters ‘Kamalam’, Bhupendra Patel said the implementation of promises made in the manifesto, including a Uniform Civil Code, will be the priority of his government.

Bhupendra Patel will take oath as the 18th chief minister of Gujarat at a function at the Helipad ground near the new secretariat in Gandhinagar on December 12. BJP won a record mandate in the Assembly elections by winning 156 out of the total 182 seats on Thursday (December 8). PM Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah along with the chief ministers of other BJP-ruled states would attend the swearing-in function, party sources said.

Consultation underway to pick ministers under new government

Hectic consultations were underway for picking ministers of the new government. Patel and state BJP chief C R Paatil flew to Delhi in the evening and were expected to hold consultations with the top leadership of the party including prime minister Modi, Shah and BJP chief J P Nadda.

MLAs Kanu Desai, Raghavji Patel, Rishikesh Patel, Harsh Sanghavi, Shankar Chaudhary, Purnesh Modi, Manisha Vakil and Raman Patkar are among those expected to be inducted in the ministry. The BJP would try to balance caste and regional representations while picking ministers, party sources said.

Rajnath Singh announced Bhupendra Patel’s name as CM

Senior BJP leaders Rajnath Singh, B S Yediyurappa and Arjun Munda were present at the meeting as the party’s central observers. “Rajnath Singh then announced that Patel will continue as the leader of the BJP legislative party. Singh praised Patel’s soft and determined nature and his style of working during his (previous) tenure as chief minister. He said the public as well as party legislators liked Patel’s nature and (the legislators) announced his name unanimously,” BJP leader Bharat Pandya told reporters.

“Gujarat has once again put its stamp of approval on the leadership and politics of development of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and put faith in the Bharatiya Janata Party,” Patel told reporters.

Bhupendra Patel’s winning margin of 1.92 lakh in Ghatlodia Assembly seat in Ahmedabad district was the highest in the state. “PM Modi’s commitment to take Gujarat into the league of developed nations (to bring the state’s development on par with developed countries) will be realised by all the MLAs and state BJP chief C R Paatil. The government and party will work effectively under the guidance of PM Modi and Amit Shah,” he said.

(With PTI Inputs)

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