Narendra Modi takes over as Gujarat CM for the fourth time

Narendra Modi today took oath as Gujarat's chief minister, for the fourth time in a row, after leading the Bharatiya Janata Party to a third successive win in the assembly elections.

Governor Kamla Beniwal administered the oath of office and secrecy to Mody at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad amidst tight security.

Modi led the BJP to victory in 115 seats in the 182-member assembly, while Congress secured 61 seats and the Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP) of former chief minister Keshubhai Patel bagged two seats.

Modi, who has been the chief minister of Gujarat ever since 2001, was sworn in amidst chants of Bharat Mata Ki Jai by an estimated 2.5 lakh people who thronged the ground.

Seven cabinet ministers and nine junior ministers also took the oath of office along with Modi. These included Nitin Patel, Anandi Patel, Raman Vora, Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, Saurabh Patel, Ganpat Vasawa, Babhbhai Bokhiariya (all cabinet ministers) and Purshottam Solanki, Parbat Patel, Vasuben Trivedi, Pradeepsinh Jadeja, Liladhar Vaghela, Rajnikant Patel, Govind Patel, Nanubhai Vanani and Jayanti Kavadiya (ministers of state).

Besides BJP top guns, the swearing-in was attended by among others, Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal, Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh, Indian National Lok Dal leader Om Prakash Chautala,  Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, RPI leader Ramdas Athawale and MNS chief Raj Thackeray.