Bhupendra Patel takes oath as Gujarat CM for the second time; PM Modi, Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh in attendance

Gujarat oath-taking ceremony: Bhupendra Patel took oath as the Chief Minister of Gujarat for the second time on Monday. Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath of office to Patel and his cabinet at Gandhinagar’s Helipad Ground. The Chief Minister took oath in Gujarati. 

Besides Patel, BJP MLAs Kanubhai Desai (Pardi), Rushikesh Patel (Visnagar), Raghavji Patel (Jamnagar Rural), and Balwantsinh Rajput (Siddhpur) took oath as Cabinet ministers. BJP leaders Kunwarji Bavaliya, Mulobhai Bera, Kuber Dindor, and Bhanuben Babariya also took oath as ministers. BJP's Harsh SanghaviPurshottam Solanki, Bachubhai Khabad, Mukesh Patel, Praful Panseriya, Bhikhusinh Parmar, Kunwarji Halpati, and Jagdish Vishwakarma also took oath as cabinet ministers.

The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Minority Affairs Minister Smriti Irani, and chief ministers of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states.

Chief Ministers Yogi Adityanath, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Basavaraj Bommai, Himanta Biswa Sarma, and Manik Saha were present at the mega event. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis were also in attendance. Besides, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel’s family was also present during the occasion. 

Soon after the ceremony, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Bhupendra Patel for taking oath as the Gujarat CM for the second time and the cabinet ministers. The Prime Minister added this energetic team will "take Gujarat to even newer heights of progress." 

PM Modi tweeted, "Congratulations to Shri Bhupendrabhai Patel on taking oath as CM of Gujarat. I would like to also congratulate all those who took oath as Ministers. This is an energetic team which will take Gujarat to even newer heights of progress."

Ahead of Patel and his cabinet's oath taking, BJP MLA from Viramgam Hardik Patel said, "I am a very young MLA. I only believe in working for the party. BJP will decide who they want to keep in cabinet. I will happily accept whatever responsibility the party decides to give me."

The saffron party broke records in this year’s Gujarat Assembly elections. The BJP secured 156 seats out of the total 182 seats, higher than BJP’s 127 seats in 2002 when Narendra Modi became the chief minister and Congress’ 149 seats under Madhav Singh Solanki.