Newly elected MLAs of Gujarat to take oath today

Speaking to PTI, DM Patel said that Protem speaker and senior-most BJP MLA Yogesh Patel will administer the oath to the 182 MLAs in the first session of the 15th Legislative Assembly in the state capital Gandhinagar on Monday, secretary of Gujarat Assembly.

On the second day of the two-day session, Tuesday, the new members will meet to elect the Speaker, he said.

As per an official notification issued by the Assembly Secretariat, elections for the posts of Speaker and Deputy Speaker will be held in the first half on Tuesday and other businesses will be taken up in the second half.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which won the seventh consecutive term in the state with a record mandate in recent elections, has declared Shankar Chaudhary and Jethabhai Bharwad as candidates for the posts of Speaker and Deputy Speaker, respectively.

Earlier on Monday, Bhupendra Patel took the oath for the second straight term as Gujarat Chief Minister. Sixteen cabinet ministers also took oath alongside Bhupendra Patel.

The new entrants include 11 former ministers. The Cabinet ministers include Kanu Desai, Rishikesh Patel, Raghvji Patel, Balvantsinh Rajput, Kunvarji Bavaliya, Mulu Bera, Kuber Dindor and Bhanuben Babariya. Harsh Sanghvi and Jagdish Vishwakarma were sworn in as ministers of state with independent charge.

The six other ministers of state include Parshottam Solanki, Bachu Khabad, Mukesh Patel, Praful Pansheriya, Kuverji Halpati and Bhikhusinh Parmar. Patel was administered the oath as the 18th chief minister by Governor Acharya Devvrat at a function held at the Helipad Ground near the new Secretariat.

Counting of votes for Gujarat Assembly Elections 2022 was held on December 8, in which the BJP won a seventh straight term by winning record 156 seats in the 182-member House. The Congress won 17 constituencies and AAP 5.

(With PTI inputs)