• In Gujarat, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been in power since 1998.
• During their sixth consecutive term in the state, they won 156 of 182 seats.
• Mr. Patel will take his oath of office at a spectacular ceremony in the state’s capital, where the new council of ministers will also be sworn in.

Recent elections resulted in a resounding victory for the BJP in the western Indian state of Gujarat, where Bhupendra Patel will soon be sworn in as chief minister.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah will attend his inauguration on Monday afternoon in the city of Gandhinagar.

In Gujarat, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been in power since 1998.

During their sixth consecutive term in the state, they won 156 of 182 seats.

Mr. Patel will take his oath of office at a spectacular ceremony in the state’s capital, where the new council of ministers will also be sworn in.

What is his name?
As the election results were announced on Friday, BJP supporters exploded firecrackers in joy and showered Mr. Patel, the state’s chief minister since last year, with rose petals.

In Gujarat, elections were held in two phases on 1 and 5 December, resulting in a record-breaking victory for the BJP.

Mr. Patel ran for the Ghatlodia seat in the city of Ahmedabad and won by a record margin of votes.
He stated that the party’s success demonstrated that “the people of Gujarat have once again endorsed Narendra Modi’s leadership and development policies.”

“It is our responsibility to maintain the trust that Narendra Modi has placed in us and to resolve even the tiniest concerns of the people,” he continued.

In September 2021, the then-chief minister of the state, Vijay Rupani, resigned, prompting the BJP to designate the 60-year-old as Gujarat’s chief minister in a surprising decision.

At the time, Mr. Patel was a first-time lawmaker with no prior experience in the government, but he had been a part of the local community for many years.
Reportedly, both Mr. Modi and Mr. Shah, whose home state is also Gujarat, favoured him for the post of chief minister.

Mr. Patel, who was born in Ahmedabad, the commercial hub of Gujarat, before entering politics, studied civil engineering.

Since his adolescence, he has been affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological foundation of the BJP and the country’s foremost Hindu nationalist organisation.
Mr. Patel is a Patidar, the politically significant farming community that makes up approximately 20% of the population of Gujarat.

Traditionally, Patels have supported the BJP, but reports indicate that many were dissatisfied with the party due to what they saw to be a lack of government representation for their community.

Gujarat is a vital state for the BJP, and Mr. Modi’s stay there boosted his bid for the office of prime minister.

Recent state elections were viewed as a measure of the party’s support before to the 2024 presidential race.

Analysts believe that the choice to appoint a chief minister from the Patel community could be a crucial step towards avoiding an election loss.

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