Vijay Rupani sworn-in as Gujarat CM; Modi congratulates new team

Ahmedabad: Vijay Rupani was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Gujarat on Sunday at the oath taking ceremony held in Gandhinagar.  Nitin Patel took oath as his Deputy Chief Minister.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Rupani and other members of his team, saying they would "continue the development journey" of the state.

"Congrats to @vijayrupanibjp, Nitinbhai Patel & others sworn-in as they begin their innings to continue the development journey of Gujarat," Modi said in a tweet.

Read: Vijay Rupani: From Rangoon-born RSS boy to Gujarat Chief Minister

In a separate tweet, the Prime Minister also applauded the services of Anandiben Patel who had stepped down from the top post on Wednesday.

"I applaud the dedicated service of @anandibenpatel, who has been working tirelessly for the people of Gujarat for many years," Modi said.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley attended the oath taking ceremony.

BJP state unit chief Vijay Rupani was appointed as the new Chief Minister of Gujarat while Health Minister Nitin Patel was appointed as the Deputy Chief Minister on Friday.

Thanking Prime Minister Modi and BJP President Amit Shah for reposing faith in him, Rupani, asserted that his team is fully committed to harnessing aspirations of the poor, marginalised, farmers and youngsters.

In a crucial meeting attended by BJP Chief Amit Shah and Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari at the party headquarters in the state, the decision to make Rupani as the next Chief Minister was announced.

Earlier, the BJP central leadership made it clear that a state MLA would be assigned the job.

Anandiben Patel had tendered her resignation to the Governor earlier on Wednesday.

The Governor has asked her to continue as the care taker chief minster till the alternate arrangement.