Bhupendra Patel looks all set to be repeated as the next chief minister of Gujarat, should the BJP be voted back to power in the state. Asked who would be the party’s next chief minister, CR Paatil, president of the Gujarat BJP unit said, “Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has done good work and he would be repeated (for another term)”. The Gujarat assembly elections are due later this year.
In a surprise choice, first-time legislator Bhupendra Patel, 59, a protege of former Chief Minister and current Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, was on September 12, 2021, elected to be the new Chief Minister of Gujarat.
At the BJP Legislature Party meeting, conducted by central observers Narendra Singh Tomar and Prahlad Joshi in the presence of the MLAs and other senior leaders, unanimously endorsed Patel’s name after it was proposed by the outgoing CM Vijay Rupani. Rupani, a protege of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, abruptly resigned on September 11, 2021, paving the way for a change of guard.
In a recent interview, Rupani said he was asked to resign only the previous night by the BJP “high command”, and he did not ask the reason.
Asked why two ministers, Rajendra Trivedi and Purnesh Modi, were stripped of two important portfolios – revenue and roads and buildings respectively — just months before the elections, Paatil said, “When the elections are ahead, work needs to be done at a fast pace. This was an issue, and it is the reason why the two portfolios were handed to the honourable chief minister. Earlier, time was lost as the cabinet ministers sent their decisions for approval to the CM; now, these decisions will be taken faster.”
While Minister of State for Home, Harsh Sanghavi, has been given additional charge of the revenue department, Minister of State for Industries Jagdish Vishwakarma has been given roads and buildings. Trivedi and Modi continue to hold their other portfolios.
On the Opposition, Paatil said the Congress’s support base had “eroded” from its earlier over 35 percent vote share. He also dismissed any challenge posed by new entrant AAP. Experts believe that the contest for Gujarat would be a two-pronged one, between the ruling BJP and the new entrant, AAP.
Also Read: Urban Naxals Tried to Deprive Kutch of Development: CM Bhupendra Patel
