'The BJP will not win a single seat in Punjab.'
Atwal is the son of Charanjit Singh Atwal, who was the deputy speaker of the 14th Lok Sabha from 2004 to 2009 and also served as the speaker of the Punjab assembly in the past.
"The house has been rebuilt at an expenditure of Rs 30 crore," Sanjay Singh said at a press conference.
In the wake of a significant decline in Covid-19 cases, the Gujarat government on Friday announced that private as well as government offices in the state can now function with 100 per cent staff from June 7.
'He only promotes those leaders who will never show any resistance to him in future.'
He also announced Rs 2 lakh ex gratia compensation for the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for those injured in cyclone-related incidents in all states affected by Tauktae.
In a bid to nullify anti-incumbency sentiment, the ruling party dropped 45 MLAs including former chief minister Vijay Rupani.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah and chief ministers of some BJP-ruled states were among those present at the Raj Bhavan ceremony.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday undertook an aerial survey of affected areas in Gujarat and the adjoining Union territory of Diu to assess the devastation caused by Cyclone Tauktae.
Patel will be administered the oath as the 18th chief minister by Governor Acharya Devvrat at a function to be held at the Helipad Ground near the new Secretariat in Gandhinagar at 2 pm.
Nitin Patel suffered a minor fracture in his left leg during the incident.
Gujarat assembly Speaker Nimaben Acharya, who won from Bhuj seat of Kutch district in 2012 and 2017, has also been denied ticket this time by the party.
With the strategy working in its favour, the BJP could be encouraged to undertake similar steps in states, including Karnataka, where elections are due next year, to counter factors that might work against it.
The results of the poll would be announced on November 4.
Five-time MLA Parshottam Solanki, who is also known as 'Bhai' among his followers, has been winning Bhavnagar-Rural with a comfortable margin.
The MLA from the Khadia-Jamalpur seat of Ahmedabad will be admitted to a designated COVID-19 hospital soon, he said.
Bhupendra Patel can never really break free of intervention from New Delhi. But if he can win over the Gujaratis and improve the BJP's tally substantially, he will have proved that he should be taken seriously.
"Like it is said, from the Upanishad to Upagraha (satellite).... we have to launch satellites and also teach the Upanishad to make people sanskari (virtuous)," Rupani said, adding the centre will help create administrators for 'new India', giving opportunity to youth irrespective of caste, creed, religion.
While Hardik Patel will contest from Viramgam, Rivaba Jadeja has been fielded from Jamnagar North.
Party sources said the issue of Rupani's successor will be discussed in the legislature party meeting likely to be held on Sunday.
Vijay Rupani, the fourth chief minister to demit office in BJP-ruled states during the coronavirus pandemic, was sworn in as chief minister -- his second stint as CM -- in December 2017.
The reset button that the Bharatiya Janata Party has pressed on governance in the wake of the Covid-19 wave, which also saw a major overhaul by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of his own Cabinet, continues as Vijay Rupani on Saturday became the fourth chief minister from the party to go.
The appointments holds significance as a large number of senior leaders, who had no organisational post currently, have now been given new responsibilities.
He will leave Delhi at around 9:30 AM and land at Bhavnagar from where he will proceed for an aerial survey of Una, Diu, Jafarabad and Mahuva.
Names of Hardik Patel, the face of the Patidar agitation ahead of the 2017 polls who quit the Congress to join the BJP, and Rivaba Jadeja, wife of cricketer Ravindra Jadeja, figure in the list.
The BJP's massive victory will make it hard for the party to derive a criterion for selecting ministers, as the claimants will be many and the berths, few.
The party's CM choice came as a surprise for many as the low-profile, first-time legislator was not seen to be among the top contenders for the post.
Patel was not there when outgoing CM Vijay Rupani accompanied Bhupendra Patel when the latter went to meet Governor Acharya Devvrat for staking claim to form the government.
Will the Modi-Shah combine replace Vijay Rupani as Gujarat CM?
Patel's elevation and his subsequent projection as chief ministerial face -- he is the first from the Kadva Patidar sub-group to be the chief minister -- is key to BJP's plans to woo the Kadva Patidar community, which some political observers feel, has drifted away from the party.
State agriculture minister R C Faldu and Union minister Purshottam Rupala's names are also being considered a front-runners.
The Punjab government has declared a holiday on Thursday as a mark of respect to the former chief minister.
Patel has never held a ministerial post, just like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was never a minister when he became Gujarat CM 20 years ago.
The BJP is faced with the crucial question of who will lead the party in the four impending state polls this year: In Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.
Modi knows how to turn Gujarati pride into an emotive issue at election time and a Gujarati President would have its own electoral resonance and significance, note Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari.
The BJP has done extremely well in the Patidar-dominated constituencies of the state, winning almost every seat that has significant Patel population.
A dedicated party worker, who made his way up in the state politics from the municipality level, Patel was a surprise choice for the top post when the BJP decided to effect a regime change, replacing the entire ministry a year before the elections.
The ruling BJP and opposition Congress have together fielded sons of sitting and former MLAs in at least 20 of the total 182 constituencies.
Over 20 leaders would be sworn in as ministers which may make way for young ministers, the sources said.
"Farmers' organisations in western UP have expressed their willingness to support the Shiv Sena and we may ally with smaller parties. In Goa, efforts are on to explore a formula like MVA. Let's see if we succeed," Shiv Sena's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said.
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