The new Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) government led by chairman-elect Vijay Rupani and his deputy Nitin Patel will be sworn-in on Tuesday at the State secretariat in Gandhinagar in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah.

Also, the chief ministers of 18 states including those ruled by the BJP and its allies, will attend the ceremony to greet the Rupani-Patel duo for making it to the office after a victory with 99 seats in the 182-seat house. The Opposition Congress has secured 77 seats besides six others including one by NCP, three by independent and two by Congress-supported Bhartiya Tribal Party.

On Saturday, December 24, a delegation of state BJP leaders met Governor O P Kohli and staked the claim to form the government in the State. Earlier on Thursday, BJP legislature party had met at the State BJP headquarters in presence of central observers - Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and BJP MP Saroj Pandey to elect Rupani as their leader and Patel as the deputy leader.

Considering the prominence of the caste-factor during the election campaigning and opposition appeasement, Rupani will try to choose his team of ministers by striking a caste balance.

Heavy security arrangements have been made around the State secretariat in Gandhinagar for the high-profile gathering. The roads connecting the venue will also remain closed during the ceremony.

This is the BJP's sixth consecutive victory in the assembly polls however, its tally came down from 115 in 2012 to 99. The State remains the saffron party's stronghold with both top leaders - the party chief Amit Shah and the Prime Minister Modi having their paternal roots connected with the State.

Earlier, Gujarat BJP president announced that an independent MLA from Lunawada, Ratansinh Rathod has extended his unconditional support to BJP taking its total tally in the house to 100.

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