Anandiben Patel sworn in as Gujarat's first woman Chief Minister

Gandhinagar: Anandiben Patel, a close Narendra Modi associate, was today sworn-in as first woman Chief Minister of Gujarat.73-year-old Patel, who was Revenue, Urban Development and Disaster Management Minister in the Modi Cabinet, was administered oath of office and secrecy by Governor Kamla Beniwal.Along with Patel, six ministers of Cabinet rank and 14 Ministers of State were also sworn-in at a ceremony attended by a galaxy of top BJP leaders including Prime Minister-elect Modi, BJP president Rajnath Singh, party patriarch L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari and Subramanian Swamy.Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal of Shiromani Akali Dal, an NDA ally, and BJP Chief Ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Vasundhara Raje Scindia (Rajasthan) and Raman Singh (Chhattisgarh) were also present. The six Cabinet Ministers who were sworn-in are Nitin Patel, Raman Vora, Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, Saurabh Patel, Ganpat Vasava and Babu Bokharia.Dilip Thakor, Vasuben Trivedi, Pradipsinh Jadeja, Chatrasinh Mori, Jaydrathsinh Parmar, Rajnikant Patel, Govind Patel, Nanu Vanani, Jayanti Kavadia, Jayesh Radadia were sworn in as Ministers of State. Four new faces inducted as MoS are-Shankar Chaudhary, Tarachand Cheda, Bachubhai Khabad and Kanti Gamit.Three MoS in the Modi government including Purshottam Solanki, who has charges of corruption against him, Parbat Patel and Vasan Ahir were dropped.Portfolios of the ministers are likely to be announced later in the day.Earlier, Anandiben was Wednesday unanimously elected leader of the BJP Legislature Party, paving the way for her to succeed her mentor and become the first woman chief minister of Gujarat.Modi quit as chief minister Wednesday after leading his party to a stunning victory in the general election. He is to be sworn in as India's next prime minister Monday.Teacher-turned-politician Patel, 73, promised to carry forward the glorious traditions set by Modi and leave no stone unturned for the development of the state.Addressing members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Legislature Party after her elevation, Patel said she would live up to the expectations of the party and people in her new role as chief minister."I shall not betray the trust imposed in me by the party and people of the state, there shall be no let up in the progress of Gujarat," a teary-eyed Patel said in her acceptance speech in chaste Gujarati at the Town Hall here.Paying rich tributes to Modi, Patel said Modi ensured tremendous progress of the state during his reign and she would take it further."He (Modi) is now leaving the banks of Sabarmati river and going to the banks of Yamuna river," Patel said, referring to the rivers flowing near the Gujarat capital and the national capital New Delhi.Earlier, in a brief meeting of the BJP-GLP in the presence of Modi, BJP national secretary Amit Shah and other senior state and central leaders, Patel was unanimously elected its leader.Congratulating Patel, Modi lauded her teaching skills and leadership abilities both as a minister and a party worker."She was a strict teacher. At times, it is good for the pupils," Modi said in a mischievous note amidst laughter, but dropped a hint at Patel's future tenure as chief minister."I governed the state for 4,609 days, and was elected four times as chief minister. I am thankful to the people of Gujarat for giving me an opportunity to serve them. I have served them and experienced the longest tenure as CM of this state. Gujarat has touched new heights of development and will continue in future. Now, I am a former chief minister," Modi said.Bursting of crackers and fireworks greeted Patel's election as chief minister in Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Mehsana and other places by jubilant party workers.