AMN / GANDHINAGAR
BJP MLA Bhupendra Patel will be the new chief minister of Gujarat. The 59-year-old Patel was unanimously elected BJP legislature party leader on Sunday.
His name was proposed by CM Vijay Rupani, whose resignation from the post on Saturday surprised many. Most of the 112 MLAs of the party in the 182-member Assembly were present at the meeting, BJP sources said. Patel won the 2017 Gujarat Legislative Assembly elections from Ghatlodia constituency, defeating Congress candidate Shashikant Patel by over one lakh votes, the highest winning margin in the 2017 Gujarat polls.
Chief Minister elect Bhupendra Patel met Governor Acharya Devvrat at Rajbhavan in Gandhinagar this evening and handed over a letter of his election as the leader of state legislature party.
State BJP President C.R. Patil told media persons that the swearing in ceremony of the new Chief Minister will be held tomorrow.
However, the swearing in of Council of Ministers is likely to be held later on.
The new council of ministers will be declared in a couple of days after consultation with the party organisation.
AIR Ahmedabad correspondent reports thatthe first time MLA Bhupendra Patel had won Ghatlodia Assembly seat with the record margin of 1 lakh 17 thousand votes, the highest during the 2017 state assembly elections.
Coming from a very common background, Mr Patel had also served as the Chairman of AUDA- Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority and the Standing Committee Chairman of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.
Gujarat Politics: Who is Bhupendra Patel?
Gujarat Chief Minister Rupani submitted his resignation to the Governor on Saturday. His resignation came 15 months before the election to the 182-member Assembly that is due in December 2022. Rupani (65), the fourth chief minister to demit office in BJP-ruled states during the coronavirus pandemic, was sworn in as chief minister in December 2017.