GANDHINAGAR: Bhupendra Rajnikant Patel, a first-time Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator representing the Ghatlodia constituency in Ahmedabad district took oath as the new chief minister of Gujarat today in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other BJP leaders.

In a very short oath-taking ceremony, he was administered the oath by Governor Acharya Devvrat in the presence of senior state party leaders, Amit Shah, Union minister Mansukh Mandaviya, CM of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Goa CM Pramod Sawant, and Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai and other senior national and state party leaders here in Gandhinagar. 

Patel, 59 a builder by profession hails from the Gujarati Kadava Patidar was unanimously elected as the BJP legislative party leader of Gujarat on 12 September 2021, a day after Vijay Rupani suddenly resigned from as the CM despite several names doing the rounds. Rupani resigned from his post 15 months before Gujarat goes to assembly polls in December 2022 after completing five years.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his congratulations to Patel in a tweet, "I have known him for years and have seen his exemplary work, be it in the BJP Organisation or in civic administration and community service. He will certainly enrich Gujarat’s growth trajectory." He also tweeted for Rupani saying, "During his five years as CM, Vijay Rupani Ji has undertaken many people-friendly measures. He worked tirelessly for all sections of society. I am certain he will continue to contribute to public service in the times to come." 

The immediate attention of the new CM will be the assessment of the flood situation in torrential rain-battered villages of Jamnagar and Rajkot district which have suffered significant loss of life and property.