Senior BJP leader Bhupendra Patel took charge as the chief minister of Gujarat for the second time on Monday at Gandhinagar. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and top BJP leaders including Rajnath Singh and J.P. Nadda were present at the ceremony.
BJP leaders Naresh Patel, Bachubhai Khabad, Harsh Sanghavi and Jagdish Vishwakarma and Parshottam Solanki took oath as ministers in the Gujarat cabinet.
Prior to becoming the CM in September 2021, Bhupendra Patel was not a known face outside Ahmedabad and even within party circles. The surprise choice of the party has in the last one year taken some tough decision to establish himself as the leader in Gujarat, reported PTI.
The Patidars are a dominant caste in Gujarat with a sizeable control over the electoral votes and dominate the state politics with a stronghold over education, realty and cooperative sectors.
He won the seat by over 1.17 lakh votes in 2017, the highest margin in that poll. In the results declared Thursday, Bhupendra Patel retained the Ghatlodia seat, which is a part of the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency represented by Union minister Amit Shah.
This is BJP's seventh consecutive term in power in Gujarat. In the Assembly elections held earlier the month, BJP won 156 of the state's 182 seats and 53 per cent vote share.
Besides BJP leaders, around 200 sadhus from the state, people from Patidars, Other Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Tribes and women attended the event.
