PM to attend Patel's oath ceremony; AAP MLA may join BJP

While the BJP in Gujarat is preparing a grand swearing-in ceremony for Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speculations are rife that MLAs elected on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ticket and independent MLAs may join the saffron party.

There was speculation that Visavadar's AAP MLA Bhupat Bhayani will join the BJP on Sunday after a formal announcement. However, Bhayani later told the media that it was merely a rumour and that he has not taken any decision in this regard so far.

Pointing out that he was formerly with the BJP, Bhayani said that he is proud of the achievements of Narendra Modi as prime minister of the country. But his decision to join the BJP would follow his discussion with his electorate.


Meanwhile, other AAP MLAs denied any such possibility, while reacting to the media.

There are also speculations that the three independent candidates -- Dhavalsinh Zala from Vayad, Dharmendra Jadeja from Waghodia and Mavji Desai from Dhanera -- may also join the BJP eventually. All three are BJP rebels who contested independently.

Preparations are going on in full swing for the swearing-in ceremony in Gandhinagar and the elected BJP MLAs are queuing up to meet BJP Gujarat president CR Patil. While several former cabinet colleagues of Bhupendra Patel, including Harsh Sanghavi, Jitu Vaghani, Parshottam Solanki, are expected to return to the new Cabinet, speculations are also on MLAs like Shankar Chaudhary being inducted into the cabinet.