BJP leader Bhupendra Patel on Monday took oath as the 18th Chief Minister of Gujarat for a second consecutive term. The 60-year-old MLA from Ghatlodia was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Acharya Devvrat. He won the Ghatlodia seat in the December elections by a record margin of 1.92 lakh votes.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence minister Rajnath Singh also attended the grand swearing-in ceremony of new ministers in the government. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Tripura CM Manik Saha, and Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant were seen in attendance at the oath-taking ceremony.

Among MLAs who took oath today as ministers include Kuvarji Bavaliya, Mulubhai Bera, Kuber Dindor, Bhanuben Babariya, Kanubhai Desai, Rushikesh Patel, Raghavji Patel, and Balwantsinh Rajput. Parshottam Solanki, Bachubhai Khabad, Mukesh Patel, Praful Pansheriya, Bhikhusinh Parmar and Kunvarji Halpati took oath as Minister of State while Harsh Sanghavi and Jagdish Vishwakarma were sworn-in as Minister of State (Independent charge).

Also Read: Full list of ministers who won and lost in Gujarat Elections 2022

The oath-taking ceremony was also attended by Patel’s family who arrived at the Helipad Ground in Gandhinagar near the new Secretariat.

It was a massive win for the saffron party in the Gujarat elections which was held in two phases in December, with the BJP winning a historic 156 seats in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly. While the Congress, in one of its worst performances in the state, won 17 seats, new player Aam Aadmi Party won five seats.

Also Read: Bhupendra Patel to take oath as Gujarat CM for second consecutive term today; PM Modi, Amit Shah to attend

On Friday, Patel resigned as the CM along with the entire cabinet to make way for the formation of the new government. He was elected as the leader of the BJP legislative party on Saturday, following which he met the governor and staked claim to form the next government.

Patel is the first from the Kadva Patidar sub-group to become CM, and replaced former CM Vijay Rupani in 2021.