Gujarat Assembly Election 2022 winners: After BIG victory, Hardik Patel, other BJP leaders say THIS - 5 points

The newly-elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs are meeting in Gandhinagar in Gujarat on Saturday to pick a new legislative party leader, who will take over as the next chief minister of the state. Bhupendra Patel, 60, on Friday resigned as the chief minister along with his entire cabinet to pave the way for the formation of a new government in the state after the ruling BJP won a landslide victory in the just concluded Assembly elections. Senior BJP leaders Rajnath Singh, B S Yediyurappa, and Arjun Munda are present for the meeting as the party's central observers. The BJP  is all set to form the government in Gujarat for the seventh straight term on December 12.

Here are some quotes from BJP leaders who triumphed against their opposition in the 2022 Assembly elections:

Hardik Patel, who joined BJP after resigning from Congress earlier this year, won the Viramgam constituency, edging out Congress's Lakhabhai Bharwad. He said, "Once again BJP has formed government and this is to see how Gujarat becomes strong and goes ahead in next 5-10 years...I've played the role of a mere soldier from the beginning. I'll accept whatever role the party assigns me."

Purnesh Modi won from Surat West by defeating Congress' Sanjay Patwa and Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Moxesh Sanghvi. "I thank voters of my constituency. I also extend greetings to PM Modi, Amit Shah, JP Nadda, BL Santhosh, Bhupendra Patel and CR Paatil. The way in which they campaigned in Gujarat, everyone contributed wonderfully and the people of Gujarat stood with PM Modi," he said.

Harsh Sanghavi, the minister who was the BJP's candidate from Majura assembly segment in Surat, the second-largest city in the state, after Ahmedabad, said, "The opposition left no stone unturned to defame the people of Gujarat to win elections and the public gave them a reply. These elections were not for power, these polls were for relations and trust. In these polls, BJP won once again."

Alpesh Thakor said, "I thank Narendra Modi and Amit Shah as well as Bhupendra Patel and CR Paatil who fielded me as a candidate from Gandhinagar South. I also thank the people for giving me a grand victory. People trust Narendra Modi for the politics of development, I thank them." The BJP MLA defeated Congress’ Himanshu Patel and AAP's Daulat Patel.