Bhupendra Patel to continue as Gujarat CM for second term

GANDHINAGAR: Bhupendra Patel will continue as the chief minister of Gujarat for a second straight term with the newly-elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs electing him as the leader of the legislative party during a meeting here on Saturday.

Patel's name was declared as the leader of the legislative party unanimously at the meeting held at the party's state headquarters 'Kamalam'.

''The newly-elected MLAs met today at 'Kamalam,' where the proposal to name Bhupendra Patel as the chief minister of Gujarat was unanimously approved,'' the BJP said in a statement.

Patel, 60, had resigned as the chief minister along with his entire cabinet on Friday to pave the way for formation of a new government in the state after the BJP registered a landslide victory in the just concluded Assembly elections.

Senior BJP leaders Rajnath Singh, B S Yediyurappa and Arjun Munda were present for the meeting as the party's central observers.

Patel won a second straight term from the Ghatlodia Assembly seat in Ahmedabad district by 1.92 lakh votes in this year's election. In September last year, he had replaced Vijay Rupani as the chief minister.

The BJP registered a historic victory in Gujarat by clinching 156 seats in the 182-member House on Thursday, much higher than its tally of 99 seats in 2017.

The party had already announced that the swearing-in ceremony of the new government will take place on December 12, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah will be present along with chief ministers of BJP-ruled states.

Gujarat BJP chief C R Paatil had said that Bhupendra Patel would continue as the chief minister and the swearing-in ceremony of the new government will take place on Monday at the Helipad Ground in Gandhinagar.