The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Bhupendra Patel on Monday took oath as the 18th Chief Minister of Gujarat.
Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath to Patel. The swearing-in ceremony was also attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Patel's swearing in as the chief minister marked the seventh consecutive term of BJP in Gujarat. The BJP won the recently-held elections with an unprecedented majority. Of the total 182 seats, the BJP won 156 and drove the principal opposition Congress to the margins with just 17 seats.
Unprecedented gains for BJP in Gujarat polls 2022
Patel took charge as Gujarat CM in September last year, replacing Vijay Rupani ahead of the assembly elections. Manoeuvring through anti-incumbency sentiments, the BJP managed to gain a landslide victory in the polls, acquiring a record 53 per cent vote share and winning 156 of the 182 seats in the state assembly.
The sliding victory for the BJP has pushed Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to the sidelines in Gujarat politics. While the Congress --which gave the BJP a scare in 2017 with 77 seats and confined the party to only 99-- won only 17 seats this time, the AAP, having conducted a visible and vocal campaign, managed to secure only five seats.
While the AAP managed to carve pockets of influence in Gujarat, its prominent leaders, including state president Gopal Italia, Patidar leader Alpesh Kathiriya, and chief ministerial face Isudan Gadhvi have all lost the polls.
Youth icon Hardik Patel's switch from Congress to the BJP ahead of the polls proved beneficial for the saffron party. Hardik Patel won from Viramgam constituency, beating Congress's Lakhabhai Bharwad by over 50,000 votes.
The BJP also managed to make deep inroads among the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) voters in the state, which had traditionally been a Congress bastion.
Bhupendra Patel's new Cabinet
A total of 17 memberes of Patel's Cabinet were also sworn in on Monday.
Among the 17 ministers, 11 were ministers and six were ministers of state, including ministers with independent charges.
The Indian Express provides the following caste-wise break-up of the Cabinet:
OBC - 7
Patidar - 4
ST - 2
SC - 1
Brahmin - 1
Jain - 1
Rajput - 1
Swearing-in ceremony attended by BJP brass
The who's who of the Bharatiya Janata Party attended Patel's swearing-in ceremony, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and top Union ministers.
Chief ministers of BJP-ruled states were also present as Patel and his Cabinet ministers were sworn in.
Besides Modi, Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, BJP chief JP Nadda, among others were present.
CMs of BJP-ruled states, such as Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath and Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan were also present.
(With PTI inputs)
