AHMEDABAD, Dec 26 (IANS): Cheered by hundreds of thousands, Narendra Modi Wednesday took oath as Gujarat's chief minister for the fourth time, after leading the BJP to a sweeping win in assembly elections.
Governor Kamla Beniwal administered the oath of office and secrecy to the 62-year-old Bharatiya Janata Party leader, who has ruled Gujarat since 2001, at the Sardar Patel Stadium here.
An estimated 2.5 lakh people packing the ground roared in joy as a visibly confident Modi took the oath in Gujarati.
Seven cabinet ministers and nine ministers of state also took oath.
The cabinet ministers are Nitin Patel, Anandiben Patel, Ramanlal Vora,
Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, Saurabh Patel, Ganpat Vasava and Babubhai Bokhiria.
The ministers of state are Purushottam Solanki, Parbatbhai Patel, Vasuben Trivedi, Pradipsinh Jadeja, Liladhar Vaghela, Rajnikant Patel, Govindbhai Patel, Nanubhai Vanani and Jayantibhai Kavadia.
After the brief ceremony, the chief minister went around the stadium in an open vehicle, waving to the cheering crowds and flashing a 'V' sign.
Among those present on the occasion were BJP leaders Nitin Gadkari, L.K. Advani and Sushma Swaraj, Chief Ministers J. Jayalalithaa of Tamil Nadu and Parkash Singh Badal of Punjab, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, MNS leader Raj Thackeray and Indian National Lok Dal's Om Prakash Chautala.
In the December elections, the BJP won 115 of the 182 seats. This was two short of its 2007 tally of 117. The Congress was bruised, bagging 61 seats.
The Gujarat Parivartan Party of former chief minister and Modi-foe Keshubhai Patel was virtually wiped out. It won only two seats, including one of Patel.
Modi is scheduled to attend the National Development Council (NDC) meeting in New Delhi Thursday.
Before leaving for the venue, Modi tweeted: "Leaving for swearing in ceremony. Glad to see love of so many people and the presence of distinguished leaders."
A still earlier tweet of Wednesday by Modi said: "To make a great future India, the whole secret lies in organization... coordination of wills."
