Bhupendra Patel to take oath as Gujarat chief minister

GANDHINAGAR: Bhupendra Patel will continue as Gujarat CM for the second straight term after newly elected BJP MLAs elected him leader of the legislative party at a meeting here Saturday.
The 60-year-old will take oath as the state’s 18th chief minister at a swearing-in ceremony to be held at the Helipad Ground in Gandhinagar on Monday which will be attended by PM Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah along with chief ministers of BJP-governed states, party officials said.
Patel met governor Acharya Devvrat after the legislative party meeting and staked claim to form the government, two days after BJP won a record 156 seats in the 182-member assembly.
Patel had got the vote of confidence during the campaign from none other than Modi, who underscored the “Narendra-Bhupendra Double Engine Sarkar” theme, while Shah had declared Patel the next CM if BJP garnered a majority.