Vijay Rupani takes oath as Gujarat CM, first cabinet meeting tomorrow

Ahmedabad: Vijay Rupani was on Tuesday sworn in as the chief minister of Gujarat for the second consecutive term after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the recently-held assembly elections in the state. Rupani, 61, and his deputy Nitin Patel were administered the oath of office and secrecy by governor O. P. Kohli at a grand ceremony in Gandhinagar. Rupani and Nitin Patel were elected as the leader and deputy leader, respectively, of the BJP legislature party at its meeting on 22 December.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and chief ministers of 18 BJP states and central ministers, and other National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders attended the ceremony.

Rupani won the Rajkot West seat in the just-concluded Gujarat elections, which saw BJP’s seat tally reduce to 99, while that of Congress rose to 77. Nevertheless, the BJP has returned to power for a sixth consecutive in Gujarat, the home state of the prime minister.

Here are the latest updates and developments from Vijay Rupani’s swearing-in as Gujarat chief minister:

■ Swearing in ceremony over.The first meeting of newly-elected Gujarat cabinet is expected to be held tomorrow at 10am in Gandhinagar, ANI reports.

■ RC Faldu, Bhupindrasinh Chudasama and Kaushik Patel take oath as ministers in Gujarat government. Saurabh Patel, Ganpatsinh Vestabhai Vasava and Jayeshbhai Vitthalbhai Radadiya take oath as ministers in Gujarat government. Dilipkumar Viraji Thakor, Ishwarbhai Ramanbhai Parmar and Pradipsinh Jadeja take oath as ministers in Gujarat government. (ANI)

■ Vijay Rupani takes oath as chief minister of Gujarat, while Nitin Patel is sworn in as deputy chief minister of Gujarat.

■ Vijay Rupani takes oath as Gujarat CM. It is Rupani’s second term as the CM and he is 14th CM to lead the state. Nitin Patel takes oath as deputy CM for second consecutive term. A total of eight cabinet ministers and 10 minister of state to take oath, DD News reports.

■ Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Bihar CM Nitish Kumar at swearing in ceremony of Gujarat CM and others in Gandhinagar, ANI reports.

■ Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje Scindia and Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh attend swearing-in ceremony of CM elect Vijay Rupani and others in Gandhinagar.

■ PM Modi arrives for the swearing-in ceremony of CM elect Vijay Rupani, CNN-News18 reports. Shankersinh Vaghela, former chief minister and one-time BJP stalwart is also on the stage, it adds.

■ Union Ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh and Ram Vilas Paswan and BJP president Amit Shah at swearing-in ceremony of CM elect Vijay Rupani, ANI reports. BJP patriarch L.K. Advani and BJP are on the stage for the swearing-in ceremony of the Vijay Rupani cabinet.

■ Twenty ministers, including CM Vijay Rupani and deputy CM Nitin Patel, to take oath shortly, ANI reports.

The names doing the rounds for Cabinet berths are Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, Kaushik Patel, Ganpat Vasava, Dilip Thakor, Babubhai Bokhiria and Pradeepsinh Jadeja, reports PTI. Some new faces are likely to be inducted as ministers of state. Six ministers in the previous government lost in the elections. Assembly speaker Ramanlal Vora too bit the dust. With 99 MLAs, the BJP has a simple majority in the 182-member assembly, 16 less than its 2012 tally of 115.

■ Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaches Gujarat’s Ahmedabad, to attend swearing-in ceremony of CM elect Vijay Rupani and others, reports ANI.

■ Uttar Pradesh deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya has described the Gujarat model of development as the “world’s most successful”, and PM Modi as a “great world leader”.

“Gujarat model is the world’s most successful model (of development), and the country has accepted this model. We are blessed that a great world leader—and not just a leader of India—Narendra Modi led this state for a long period,” Maurya said, speaking to reporters in Ahmedabad today.Maurya is attending the swearing-in ceremony of the new Gujarat government led by Vijay Rupani. (PTI)

■ Vijay Rupani and his wife Anjali visit Panchdev temple in Gandhinagar ahead of swearing-in as Gujarat chief minister for the second time.

■ Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi will be attending the oath-taking ceremony of the new BJP government in Gujarat, PTI reports.