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Governments & Politics
On 1960-05-01, Gujarat
was created out of the 17 northern districts of former State of
Bombay. These districts were further subdivided later on. There are
25 administrative districts in the state (as of 2006).
Gujarat is governed by a Legislative Assembly of 182 members.
Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) are elected on the basis
of adult suffrage from one of 182 constituencies, of which 13 are
reserved for scheduled castes and 26 for scheduled tribes. The term
of office for a member of the Legislative Assembly is five years.
The Legislative Assembly elects a speaker, who presides over the
meetings of the legislature. A governor is appointed by the
President of India, and is Assembly, and to address the House after
every general election and the commencement of each year's first
session of the Legislative Assembly. The leader of the majority
party or coalition in the legislature (Chief Minister) or his or her
designee acts as the Leader of the Legislative Assembly. The
administration of the state is led by the Chief Minister.
After gaining independence in 1947, the Indian National Congress
party (INC) ruled the Bombay state (which included present-day
Gujarat and Maharashtra). Congress continued to govern Gujarat after
the state's creation in 1960. During and after India's State of
Emergency of 1975-1977, public support for the Congress Party
eroded, but it continued to hold government until 1995. In the 1995
Assembly Polls, the Congress lost to the BJP and Keshubhai Patel
came to power. His Government lasted only 2 years. The fall of that
government was provoked by a split in the BJP led by Shankersinh
Vaghela and has won most of the subsequent polls. In 2001, following
the loss of 2 assembly seats in by-elections, Keshubhai Patel
resigned and yielded power to Narendra Modi. The BJP retained a
majority in the 2002 election, and Narendra Modi has since served as
Chief Minister of the state. On 1st June, 2007, Narendra Modi became
the longest serving Chief Minister of Gujarat[11][12]. On Dec 23rd
2007, the BJP won the state elections in gujarat and Narendra Modi
became the chief minister for the third time in a row
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