Modi sworn in as Guj chief minister with BJP, NDA leaders in attendance

Ahmedabad: Narendra Modi, who led the BJP to an emphatic victory in the assembly elections, was today sworn in as Gujarat Chief Minister for the fourth time. He was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Kamla Beniwal at an impressive ceremony at Sardar Patel Stadium. Modi was sworn in along with seven ministers of Cabinet rank and nine Ministers of State. Nitin Patel, Anandi Patel, Raman Vora, Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, Saurabh Patel, Ganpat Vasawa, Babhbhai Bokhiariya took oath as Cabinet ministers, while Purshottam Solanki, Parbat Patel, Vasuben Trivedi, Pradeepsinh Jadeja, Liladhar Vaghela, Rajnikant Patel, Govind Patel, Nanubhai Vanani and Jayanti Kavadiya took oath as Ministers of State. A galaxy of top BJP leaders and those of its allies were present at the swearing-in ceremony. [caption id=“attachment_569486” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Screengrab of Modi’s swearing in ceremony.[/caption] Those in attendance included BJP chief Nitin Gadkari, senior leader L K Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, party’s leaders in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively, Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his Chhattisgarh counterpart Raman Singh. The presence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, added grist to speculation about a possible realignment of her AIADMK with BJP-led NDA. Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal, Indian National Lok Dal leader Om Prakash Chautala, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, his cousin and MNS chief Raj Thackeray, RPI leader Ramdas Athawale were also present. As expected, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who has been keeping distance from Modi, as also his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi, were conspicuous by their absence. However, Bihar BJP president C P Thakur attended the ceremony. Modi’s mother Heeraben, who was also present, was seen flashing the victory sign. Modi greeted all prominent leaders present at the ceremony before taking oath in Gujarati amid chants of Bharat Mata Ki Jai (Victory be to mother India). PTI