Bhupendra Patel named next Gujarat CM, know more about this Ghatlodia MLA

Bhupendra Patel was unanimously elected the BJP legislature party leader on Sunday in Gandhinagar.

File Photo

New Delhi: BJP MLA Bhupendra Patel will be the new Gujarat Chief Minister, succeeding Vijay Rupani who resigned on Saturday. The decision was taken on Sunday (September 12) at the BJP legislature meet held in Gandhinagar. 

BJP had sent Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and Pralhad Joshi to Gujarat as the party's central observer to the meeting. Patel's name was proposed by former CM Vijay Rupani. 

Patel, seen as a protege of former Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, is a BJP MLA from Ghatlodia constituency. He had won the 2017 Gujarat Legislative Assembly elections defeating Congress candidate Shashikant Patel. He was a part of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority.

Commenting on his successor, Rupani said, "Bhupendra Patel is capable. We believe BJP will win the upcoming elections in the state under his leadership."

Bhupendra Patel is capable. We believe BJP will win the upcoming elections in the state under his leadership: Vijay Rupani pic.twitter.com/E7xwc1FYGG

— ANI (@ANI) September 12, 2021

Union Minister and BJP leader Bhupender Yadav told reporters that the leaders will meet the Gujarat Governor at 6 pm today. "We will be going to the Raj Bhavan at 6 pm. We will be meeting the governor regarding the appointment of the new Gujarat CM," ANI quoted him as saying. 

Elections to 182-member Gujarat Assembly are to be held by December 2022.

In a surprise move, Vijay Rupani had met state Governor Acharya Devvrat and tendered his resignation as Gujarat CM on Saturday. "To further develop the state, with new energy and power, I have decided to resign as Chief Minister," he told the reporters. With his resignation, Rupani became the fourth BJP’s chief minister to be replaced in the last six months. Earlier, Trivendra Singh Rawat and Tirath Singh Rawat in Uttarakhand and BS Yediyurappa in Karnataka were replaced from the CM posts. 

The names of Gujarat Deputy CM Nitin Patel, state agriculture minister RC Faldu, Union ministers Purshottam Rupala and Mansukh Mandaviya were doing rounds as successors of Rupani. "Names of Patel, Faldu, Rupala and Mandaviya are being discussed. But it is impossible to say who will be the chief minister as the decision will be taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” a BJP leader had told PTI.