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ELECTIONS '96

Keshubhai Patel sworn in Gujarat CM

Bharatiya Janata Party veteran Keshubhai Patel was sworn in today as chief minister of Gujarat, after leading his party to a handsome victory in the state assembly election.

Patel was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Krishna Pal Singh at a brief ceremony at the Raj Bhavan in Gandhinagar.

Many top BJP leaders, including its prime ministerial candidate Atal Bihari Vajpayee and president L K Advani were present at the ceremony.

Earlier in the day, Patel, a former chief minister, was formally elected leader of the BJP legislature party at a meeting of the party's newly-elected legislators.

Patel was the only person to take oath today. He will form his council of ministers after the Holi festival on March 13.

Patel, a seasoned politician, was projected by the BJP as its nominee for chief minister much before the assembly election was held.

Proving his acumen, Patel led the BJP back to power, decimating the Rashtriya Janata Party of Shankarsinh Vaghela and also drubbing the Congress alongside.

In the assembly election, the BJP got as many as 117 seats and the Congress bagged 53. The RJP secured just four seats and even former chief minister Dilip Parikh lost to a barely known BJP nominee.

The Janata Dal won four seats and Independents three, while one result went in favour of the Samajwadi Party of Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Patel earlier became chief minister after the 1995 assembly election in which the BJP secured 121 seats. But his government did not last long as Vaghela, who was then in the BJP, revolted against him. Later, the central BJP leadership intervened and worked out a deal under which Suresh Mehta took over the reins of the state.

Vaghela, however, once again created problems for the BJP and split the party. Later the RJP chief formed a government with the outside support of the Congress.

Vaghela had to bow out of office in October last year after the Congress objected to his style of functioning. However, he was able to secure the Congress's support for his confidant Dilip Parikh as chief minister.

Parikh sprang a surprise when, in January, he recommended fresh elections in the state.

Despite thorny negotiations, the Congress and the RJP failed to reach a seat-sharing arrangement for the Lok Sabha and assembly elections. With both the Congress and RJP contesting, the BJP benefitted and won by a thumping majority.

Elections '98

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