Anandiben Patel Takes oath as First Woman Chief Minister of Gujarat
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- Category: Gujarat Political News
- Last Updated: Thursday, 22 January 2015 20:58
Anandiben Patel Takes oath as First Woman Chief Minister of Gujarat
Anandiben Patel took over as Gujarat's chief minister on Thursday afternoon. She was administered oath by the state's Governor Kamla Beniwal. On stage, was her predecessor Narendra Modi, who will be the country's next prime minister.
The entire BJP top line of leaders like party president Rajnath Singh, LK Advani, MM Joshi and Arun Jaitley were also present as the 72-year-old Anandiben took oath at a packed Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar. She is Gujarat's first woman chief minister.
Yesterday, Gujarat Revenue Minister Anandiben Patel was on Wednesday elected leader of the BJP Legislature Party and will succeed Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi as Chief Minister of the State. The 73-year-old Ms. Patel’s name was proposed and adopted unanimously at a meeting of the Legislature Party in the presence of Mr. Modi, who had moments earlier resigned as the Chief Minister.
In Gujarat, Mr Shah and Ms Patel have often been described as Mr Modi's "left and right arms." Like Mr Shah, Anandiben Patel is said to enjoy Mr Modi's complete trust. During his long election campaign, while Amit Shah helped Mr Modi script his massive victory, Ms Patel, the revenue minister, held fort in Gujarat as the head of a group of ministers set up to run the state government.
She is known to be a very able administrator and has a tough, no-nonsense image. Dabbing discreetly at her eyes yesterday, as she was elected, an emotional Ms Patel said, "Today when our beloved leaders are going to Delhi, there are tears in one eye and happiness in the other. Happiness because they are going to Delhi to wipe the tears of millions of Indians. I wish Narendra Modi all the best."
Handing over, Mr Modi assured Ms Patel that "no files in the chief minister's office are pending", and said, "she is a very hardworking minister and has been a performer and am sure Gujarat will continue to move forward on path of growth.''
Ms Patel has stood by Mr Modi for many years even before he took over as Gujarat chief minister, including when in the mid 1990s, he was banished from state politics after a confrontation with other state leaders.
The senior BJP leader was elected to the state assembly in 2012 from Ghatlodiya in Ahmedabad by a margin of 1.10 lakh votes. Her biggest limitation, her colleagues say, is her lack of connect with the party's grassroot-level workers and her inaccessibility.
source:NDTV,thehindu