Today’s ceremonial oath ceremony for Gujarat’s new chief minister, Bhupendra Patel, who took over for Vijay Rupani in September of last year before the state’s elections, will mark the start of the BJP’s eighth term in office in the state. Along with him, some 25 cabinet ministers will swear an oath. Contrary to fears of escalating anti-incumbency, the BJP won Gujarat by a landslide margin, taking 156 of the state’s 182 seats and 53% of the vote.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, and other central ministers will attend the ceremony in Gandhinagar.
BJP-ruled state chief ministers and allies will also be present. Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, is on the list, along with Himanta Biswa Sarma, the chief minister of Assam, Manohar Lal Khattar, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Basavaraj Bommai, the chief minister of Karnataka, Pushkar Singh Dhami, and Eknath Shinde, the chief minister of Maharashtra, and his deputy, Devendra Fadnavis.
According to reports, MPs who have campaigned in Gujarat as well as BJP leader JP Nadda and senior politician BL Santosh would also be there.
According to insiders, specific preparations have been made for the event as well as the infrastructure. There will be three enormous stages on the helipad in Gandhinagar, which will host the swearing-in event. The Chief Minister and his cabinet will be seated on the middle platform.
The Prime Minister and VVIPs will be seated on the platform to the right of the main stage. 200 sadhus from the state who were specifically invited to the event would sit in the one on the left.
All communities will be represented in the audience, according to sources, however women, scheduled castes and tribes, patidars, and other backward classes would receive preference. According to insiders, preferences have been made with the 2024 Lok Sabha and subsequent 2026 state elections in mind.
In this election, the BJP has significantly increased its support among the Scheduled Castes and Tribes, formerly a stronghold of the Congress. However, Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party, which this time launched an account in the state, has also been able to forge certain spheres of influence.
The Patidars, longtime BJP supporters, have grown dissatisfied with the group. The party is making an effort not to upset the apple cart, despite Hardik Patel switching sides from the Congress to the BJP. This time, the victor from the Viramgam constituency was Hardik Patel, who defeated Lakhabhai Bharwad of the Congress by more than 50,000 votes.
The Congress and Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party have been sidelined by the unexpected BJP victory. The Congress, which in 2017 gained 77 seats and reduced the BJP to just 99, gave the party a fright, only took home 17 seats this time.
Despite running a vigorous and prominent campaign, AAP was only able to secure five seats. Its three most important state officials, chief ministerial candidate Isudan Gadhvi, Patidar leader Alpesh Kathiriya, and state president Gopal Italia, all lost.
