Bhupendra Patel named as new Chief Minister of Gujarat

New Delhi: Bhupendra Patel has been named as the new Chief Minister of Gujarat on Sunday. Bhupendra Patel is MLA from Ghatlodia seat earlier held by Anandiben.

This comes after Vijay Rupani ‘s resignation a year before the assembly elections in the state. He took charge as the Chief Minister of Gujarat on 7 August 2016. He currently represents Gujarat’s Rajkot West as MLA.

“Bhupendra Patel is capable. He has a very gentle personality which surely help in this development work ahead. We believe BJP will win the upcoming elections in the state under his leadership,” Rupani told mediapersons soon after Patel was elected as the new Chief Minister of Gujarat in BJP’s Legislative Party meeting held here on Sunday.

Patel is an MLA from the Ghatlodia seat, which was previously held by Anandiben Patel, who is currently serving as the Governor of Uttar Pradesh, with an additional charge of Madhya Pradesh.

Patel a first-time MLA had won his seat by a margin of 117,000 votes in 2017, the largest margin in that poll defeating Congress candidate Shashikant Patel.

He has served as chairman of the Standing Committee of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and had also chaired the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA). Patel has also served as municipal councillor in Ahmedabad.

In 2017 elections, Patel won the Ghatlodia constituency in Gujarat by a margin of 1.17 lakh votes, highest on entire Gujarat during the assembly polls.

Vijay Rupani had resigned on Saturday.

Rupani took charge as the Chief Minister of Gujarat on August 7, 2016. He currently represents Gujarat’s Rajkot West as MLA. In the 2017 state election, the BJP won 99 of the state’s 182 Assembly seats, Congress got 77 seats.

Assembly polls in the state are scheduled to take place in 2022.