Bhupendra Patel has been chosen by the BJP as the new chief minister of Gujarat, succeeding Vijay Rupani who resigned on Saturday. He is a first-time MLA from Ghatlodia constituency in Ahmedabad.
An engineer by education and builder by profession, Patel comes from the Kadva Patidar community, which is considered key to electoral success in Gujarat. It has been a significant contributor to the BJP’s many successive victories in the state.
Rose through ranks in Ahmedabad
Patel, a trusted lieutenant of Union home minister Amit Shah, was elected MLA in 2017 from the seat that was earlier held by former chief minister Anandiben Patel, who is the currently the governor of Uttar Pradesh. His assembly segment, Ghatlodia, also happens to be a part of Shah’s parliamentary constituency, Gandhinagar. He has never held a ministerial post just like Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he became Gujarat CM 20 years ago.
He has earlier served as the chairperson of Ahmedebad Urban Development Authority and is also a trustee in two prominent organisations of the Patel/Patidar community, the Vishwa Umiya Foundation and Sardardham.
Eye on 2022 Gujarat elections
The new CM was not on any list of probables floating around in the circles of political observers and commentators. Patel is all set to take oath as the 17th chief minister of Gujarat on Monday. Elections are due in Gujarat by the end of 2022 and the BJP is making an effort to present a new set of faces to counter any anti-incumbency.
The decision to make Patel the new CM of Gujarat was taken by the BJP at a legislature party meeting on Sunday. His predecessor Rupani is the fourth BJP leader to resign from the post of CM in recent months. If sources are to be believed, the BJP was not so confident of facing the next elections under his leadership. Rupani, in his resignation speech, spoke of ‘Nayi urja and naya utsaah’ as the reason for choosing a new CM.
In the last election, the Congress in Gujarat had put up a spirited performance and run the BJP real close, and ultimately it was PM Modi’s campaign in the state that is said to have saved the day for the BJP.
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