Vijay Rupani, the newly elected leader of the Gujarat BJP legislature party, on Sunday took oath as the 16th Chief Minister of Gujarat.
Governor O.P. Kohli administered him the oath of office and secrecy at the Mahatma Mandir conference hall in Gandhinagar. Nitin Patel was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister.
Top leaders including L.K. Advani, Arun Jaitley, Chief Ministers of Goa, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan were present at the ceremony.
On Saturday, Mr. Rupani resigned as Gujarat BJP president following his elevation for the top job in the State as Anandiben Patel's successor. The BJP president Amit Shah held a series of meetings with Mr. Rupani and other top leaders to finalize names of the ministers to be sworn in and also selection of new party president ahead of the next Assembly polls scheduled to be held in December 2017.
Latest updates:
1.20 pm: 22 ministers sworn in.
1.02 pm: Jasabhai Barad, Purushottam Solani and Jayantibhai Kavadia get Minister of State, take oath.
12.55 pm: Shankar Chaidhary and Pradipsinh Jadeja take oath as Minister of State.
12.50 pm: Chimanbhai Saparia, Atmaram Parmar, Dilip Thakor, Jayesh Radadia and Babubhai Bokhiria also take oath.
12.40 pm: Bhupendrasinh Chudasama and Ganpat Vasava take oath as cabinet ministers.
12.38 pm: Nitin Patel takes oath as Deputy CM.
12.32 pm: Vijay Rupani takes oath as Gujarat CM.
12.20 pm: Gujarat Finance Minister Saurabh Patel and Social Justice Minister Ramanlal Vora dropped from the new ministry.
12.15 pm: Senior leader L.K. Advani and Finance Minister Aun Jaitley arrive at Ahmedabad to attend the swearing in ceremony.
12.10 pm: Chief Ministers of various states arrive at Gandhinagar.
12.00 pm: Vijay Rupani's appointment is followed by high drama. Initially he was inducted into the cabinet and entrusted with crucial portfolios of transport, water resources and labour and employment, became State party president and has now been named the Chief Minister — all this in less than two years. | > Read more
BJP leader Amit Shah backed Vijay Rupani as next Gujarat Chief Minister against senior Cabinet Minister Nitin Patel. File photo: PTI Many challenges ahead
Vijay Rupani may have succeeded in beating Nitin Patel to get the top job in Gujarat with the backing of BJP president Amit Shah, but he faces many challenges. He has just 14 months to set the house in order with the Assembly polls due in December 2017. | >Read more
