Bhupendra Patel begins 2nd innings as Gujarat CM

Gandhinagar: BJP leader Bhupendra Patel on Monday took oath as the Chief Minister of Gujarat for a second straight term at a star-studded ceremony in Gandhinagar along with a 16-member Council of Ministers, which included one woman, four days after the saffron outfit stormed to power in the state with a historic mandate.

Patel (60) was administered the oath as the 18th Chief Minister by Governor Acharya Devvrat at a grand ceremony attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, several members of the Union Cabinet and chief ministers of BJP-ruled states at the Helipad Ground near the new Secretariat here.

Sixteen other ministers, eight of them of Cabinet rank -- the new ministerial team has representation from Patidar, Koli, tribal and Dalit communities -- were also sworn-in after the BJP on December 8 won seventh straight term in office in Gujarat with victory in a record 156 Assembly constituencies in the 182-member House.

The new entrants include 11 former ministers. The lone woman minister - Bhauben Babariya - was elected from the Rajkot Rural (Schedule Castes) Assembly seat. She has been given the Cabinet rank.Prime Minister Modi, who addressed nearly three dozen campaign rallies across the state and is widely credited for the BJP's stellar poll performance, congratulated CM Patel and his new team in a tweet.

The Congress was relegated to a distant second spot with 17 seats, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) finished third with win in five segments.