After the landslide victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Gujarat Assembly polls, the newly-elected party MLA Hardik Patel on Monday, hours before Bhupendra Patel's swearing-in ceremony, said the party would decide who they want to keep in the cabinet.
"I am a very young MLA. I only believe in working for the party. BJP will decide who they want to keep in the cabinet. I will happily accept whatever responsibility the party decides to give me," the Viramgam constituency MLA said.
Patel, who switched from Congress to the BJP this June, contested the polls from his hometown, Viramgam and won by a margin of 51707 votes. The Patidar quota stir leader contested against Congress' Lakha Bharwad and Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Amarsinh Thakore. He got 99,155 votes.
BJP swept the Gujarat Assembly election with a whopping 156 out of the 182 Assembly seats, which is the highest number of seats any party has won after the formation of the state in 1960.
It is now the largest mandate ever in the history of the state. With this win, BJP becomes the second party in the history of the country to have come to power for seven successive terms in a state.
Bhupendra Patel has been elected BJP legislative party leader. Patel will be administered the oath as the 18th Chief Minister by Governor Acharya Devvrat at the Helipad Ground near the new Secretariat in Gandhinagar at 2 pm. Patel, the 60-year-leader who won from Ghotlodia Assembly seat in Ahmedabad district will take oath as chief minister along with other cabinet ministers.
Speaking about the likely cabinet, Surat West MLA Purnesh Modi told ANI: "The party's decision in the matter would be cordially welcomed."
The Assembly elections in Gujarat were held in two phases -- on December 1 and 5. The approximate voter turnout in the second phase was 59.11 per cent and in the first 63.14 per cent.
( With inputs from ANI )
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