From being the chairman of the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority to being chosen in 2017 to contest his first election and now being the surprise choice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the next chief minister of Gujarat, 59-year-old Bhupendra Patel is as low-profile a politician as one can be.
Till early Sunday morning, Patel had just 14,000-odd followers on Twitter and was hardly in contention for the top chair, if one went by the speculation in the media. Earlier on Sunday, he was planting saplings in his constituency with a handful of supporters and then held a small organisational meeting before he is said to have learnt that he was to be the choice as the next CM.
Bhupendra Patel plants sapling in his constituency hours before being declared as the new Gujarat CM. (Image:News18)
He even caught no one’s attention when he reached the BJP Legislature Party meeting at 3pm, where he sat towards the end of the hall and his name was then announced as the unanimous choice as the new CM.
First Kadva Patel to Become Gujarat CM
Patel’s choice as the CM, however, makes potent political sense. Besides being a Patidar — the community the BJP wants to be by its side in the next elections — Patel is also a Kadva Patel. He is, in fact, the first Kadva Patel to become the chief minister of the state. This community is dominant in North Gujarat and Saurashtra, and opens a new political narrative for the BJP ahead of the next polls. Before him, the Patel CMs of Gujarat were all Leuva Patels. Bhupendra Patel also has a good hold over various Patidar associations.
In becoming the CM, Patel has clearly superseded a host of other leaders in the state, effectively sealing the future of the likes of Deputy CM Nitin Patel, who saw himself as the biggest Patidar face in the state.
Patel thanked Prime Minister Modi, BJP national president JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for reposing faith in him.
To Take Oath on Monday
A first-time MLA, Patel secured the assembly seat of Ghatlodia, which was once represented by Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, in the 2017 state election by a huge margin, polling 72% of the total votes. A trusted lieutenant of Amit Shah, Patel’s assembly segment 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.
A builder by profession, Patel is all set to take oath at 2.20pm on Monday.
Chief Minister of four BJP-ruled states, along with Amit Shah, will attend Patel’s swearing-in. Goa CM Pramod Sawant, Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar, and Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan will attend the oath-taking ceremony, sources told CNN-News18. Shah will land in Ahmedabad at around 12.30pm and return to the capital at night.
Gujarat BJP president CR Patil said that only Bhupendra Patel will take oath as the chief minister, adding that the new cabinet will be formed after consultation with senior BJP leaders in a couple of days.
No discussion about the deputy chief minister’s post was held at the legislature party meeting, Patil further said. Patel was announced as the new Gujarat CM after his predecessor Vijay Rupani’s resignation. If sources are to be believed, the BJP was not so confident about facing the 2022 state elections in Gujarat under his leadership. Rupani in his resignation speech spoke of “Nayi Urja and Naya Utsaah” as the reason for choosing a new chief minister.
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