BJP to form govt for 7th straight term in Gujarat on Dec 12

Gandhinagar: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is all set to form the government in Gujarat for the seventh straight term on December 12. Party leader Bhupendra Patel will take oath as chief minister along with 20 other cabinet ministers.

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Friday submitted his resignation to Governor Acharya Devvrat after BJP registered a historic win in the State Assembly elections ahead of the formation of his new government.

CM Patel along with state BJP President CR Paatil, MoS Home Harsh Sanghavi, Minister of Health and Family Welfare Rushikesh Patel, Chief Whip of Gujarat Pankaj Desai reached Raj Bhavan on Friday around 12 pm to tender the resignation of the government, which was accepted by the Governor.

BJP is set to hold its legislature party meeting on Saturday at 10:30 am at the state BJP office “Kamalam” in Gandhinagar, after which the leaders will meet the Governor at around 2 pm to stake claim to form the government.

Bhupendra Patel will take oath as the CM, for the second consecutive time, on December 12 which will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home minister Amit Shah and likely by the Chief Ministers of BJP-led states.

As per sources, about 20 cabinet ministers will also take oath on the same day, that is Monday, along with Bhupendra Patel and will take charge of their respective offices, the very next day.

BJP swept the Gujarat Assembly election with a whooping 156 seats, which is the highest number of seats any party has won after the formation of the state in the year 1960.

The Congress secured 17 seats, AAP secured 5, with 1 for SP and 3 Independent candidates will be in the newly-formed Gujarat Assembly along with 156 BJP candidates.

The BJP’s seventh consecutive Assembly poll win in Gujarat is its biggest since the founding of this state in 1960.

In the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, the BJP has smashed all previous records of electoral performance.

Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel, too, scripted history, winning the Ghatlodia constituency by a record margin of about 1,92,000 votes. This constituency has given Gujarat two of its chief ministers – Anandiben Patel and the current CM.

AAP CM face Isudan Gadhvi lost the Khambhaliya seat to BJP candidate Hardasbhai Bera by 19,000 votes. Gujarat’s MoS Home, Harsh Sanghavi, too, won the Majura constituency with a margin of 1,16,000.

BJP MLA Kishor Kanani won the Varachha seat of Surat, defeating AAP candidate Alpesh Kathiriya while AAP Gujarat chief Gopal Italia also had to taste defeat against the BJP’s Vinod Moradiya.

Debutant from Jamnagar North constituency, cricketer Ravindrasinh Jadeja’s wife Rivaba Jadeja also won her seat by 88,119 votes. Hardik Patel, former leader of Patidar Anamat Andolan Saimiti (PAAS), who joined BJP ahead of the polls, bagged 49.64 per cent votes on course to winning the Viramgam constituency.

Former BJP MLA Dhavalsinh Zala, who fought as an Independent this time, defeated the ruling party’s Bhikhiben Parmar by around 6,000 votes. Congress candidate from Vadgam, Jignesh Mevani, who was trailing during the early rounds of counting, later won the seat by around 4,000 votes.

Congress leader and former Leader of Opposition Arjun Modhwadia won from the Porbandar constituency, defeating BJP candidate Babu Bokhiriya by over 8,000 votes while Kandhal Jadeja, who was denied a ticket by the NCP, fought on a Samajwadi Party ticket to win. He got the better of BJP’s Dheliben Odedara.

Significantly, BJP won the Morbi seat where the party had fielded Kantilal Amrutiya, who saved lives and courted headlines as the ‘hero of Morbi’ after the bridge collapse.

Among the important seats that BJP won this time were Congress bastions Mahudha and Thasra of Kheda, Borsad of Anand and Vyara. These seats were held by Congress since Independence. Mohan Konkani of the BJP bagged the prestigious Vyara seat.

The BJP also won 24 out of 27 ST reserved seats in Gujarat, an increase of 12 seats as compared to the last elections. The tribals, too, voted for BJP in huge numbers.

In the last Assembly elections in 2017, BJP won 99 seats, Congress trailed close at 77 and NCP, BTP and Independent candidates secured 1, 2 and 3 seats, respectively.