Bhupendra Patel, BJP MLA from Ahmedabad’s Ghatlodiya Assembly constituency, was nominated by the Bharatiya Janata Party to be the next Chief Minister of Gujarat on Sunday. A protégé of former state Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, Bhupendra Patel will be sworn in on Monday in place of Vijay Rupani, who resigned on Saturday to make way for the party to select a new Chief Minister. Patel, a first time MLA, had won his seat by a margin of 117,000 votes in 2017, the largest in that election, defeating Congress candidate Shashikant Patel. Patel has served as chairman of the Standing Committee of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and has also chaired the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA), apart from serving as municipal councillor in Ahmedabad.
The announcement of the 59-year-old BJP leader’s name as the Chief Minister-elect at a legislative party meeting of the BJP came as a surprise for many as the low-profile MLA was not seen to be among the top contenders for the post.
Bhupendra Patel met Governor Acharya Devvrat at the Raj Bhavan in Gandhinagar to stake his claim as the 17th Chief Minister of Gujarat. “Today paid a courtesy call to his excellency the Governor of Gujarat, Acharya Devvratji at Raj Bhavan,” tweeted Patel. Vijay Rupani accompanied Patel along with a delegation of BJP MLAs to the Raj Bhavan. “The newly appointed leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Legislature Party, Bhupendrabhai Patel, presented a proposal to form a new government under his leadership at the Raj Bhavan. Accepting the proposal, he was invited to take oath as the Chief Minister on September 13, 2021, at 2:20 pm,” tweeted the Governor.
Reports are that Union Home Minister Amit Shah will attend the swearing-in ceremony.
Patel was elected as the leader of the BJP legislature party after a meeting in state capital Gandhinagar.
Earlier, Gujarat BJP chief, C.R. Patil has said that Bhupendra Patel would take oath on Monday. “No one else will take oath with him as the name of the Deputy Chief Minister is not decided yet,” said Patil.
“Bhupendra Patel is capable. He has a very gentle personality, which surely will help in the development work ahead. We believe BJP will win the upcoming elections in the state under his leadership,” Rupani told journalists soon after Patel’s name was announced.
In his first address to the media, Bhupendra Patel said, “First of all, I want to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi, J.P. Nadda and Amit Shah from the bottom of my heart. I also want to thank all the leaders of Gujarat BJP including C.R. Patil and the team of Vijay Rupani.” “The faith that party showed me, I will not let it break. I will take forward the incomplete development work in the state. We will move forward by keeping the organisation along,” he added.
With Assembly polls in the state scheduled to take place in 2022, BJP went with Patel—a Patidar face for Chief Minister. In Gujarat, the Patidars are a dominant caste with a sizeable control over the electoral votes. The community also dominates the political economy with a strong hold over education, realty and cooperative sectors. Rupani took charge as the Chief Minister of Gujarat on 7 August 2016. He currently represents the Rajkot West seat. In the 2017 state election, the BJP won 99 of the state’s 182 Assembly seats, Congress got 77 seats. There was considerable anger among Patidar voters over Anandiben Patel’s removal. Patel is considered a protégé of Anandiben Patel and is MLA from the Ghatlodiya seat, which was previously held by Anandiben, who is currently serving as the Governor of Uttar Pradesh, with additional charge of Madhya Pradesh.
Bhupendra Patel, who belongs to the Kadva sub-caste of the Patels, has a diploma in civil engineering and is a trustee with influential Patidar organisations such as Sardardham and Vishv Umiya Foundation. Incidentally, the face of the Patidar movement of 2017, Hardik Patel, who is now with the Congress, too is a Kadva Patel.
The Aam Aadmi Party has been trying to woo the Patidar community and there is speculation that Hardik Patel may be joining AAP to give an edge to the party’s campaign for the 2022 Assembly elections.
‘IT’S LIKE DIWALI’
There was a celebratory atmosphere at the residence of Bhupendra Patel in Ahmedabad where his relatives and neighbours gathered on Sunday after the BJP announced his name as the 17th Chief Minister of Gujarat. “It’s like Diwali today,” said Bhupendra Patel’s wife, Hetal. “We didn’t expect him to be the chief minister. It was so unexpected that we did not even get time to plan his proper welcome,” she added. Bhupendra Patel’s younger brother Ketan Patel thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving a “surprise” to the family.
“There is a joyous atmosphere at home. We can’t express how happy we are. All relatives and neighbours have gathered at our place to celebrate. We were not expecting this. It’s a surprise from Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said.
Devanshi Patel, Bhupendra Patel’s daughter-in-law said the family received the news on television. She asserted that her father-in-law’s only goal is to help people. “He will keep doing that, irrespective of people’s status, in his new role also,” she added.