Bhupendra Patel To Become Gujarat CM, Know More About BJP Leader From Patidar Community

Patel, who was elected the leader of the legislature party after a meeting held in Gandhinagar, will succeed Vijay Rupani to the top post.

Bhupendra Patel (File Photo)

Gandhinagar: Ending all speculations, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday named Bhupendra Patel as the next Chief Minister of Gujarat.

Patel, who was elected the leader of the legislature party after a meeting held in Gandhinagar, will succeed Vijay Rupani to the top post.

READ: Bhupendra Patel To Be Sworn In As Gujarat Chief Minister, Elected BJP Legislative Party Leader

Considered close to former chief minister Anandiben Patel, he is the BJP MLA from the Ghatlodiya assembly seat and also an ex-chairman of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s Standing Committee.

Patel, who will call on Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvart at 6 p.m., will be sworn in as the Chief Minister on Monday. 15 other ministers are also likely to take oath on Monday.

Patel, who belongs to the Patidar community, was a minister in Rupani’s government.

Associated with the Rashtriya Sawayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for a long, Patel is also said to have a good hold in the state’s Patel community as well.

He had won the Ghatlodiya assembly seat by a margin of over 1,17,000 votes against Congress leader Shashikant Patel in the 2017 elections.

Earlier in the day, the BJP sent two Union Ministers Pralhad Joshi and Narendra Singh Tomar to Gujarat as the party's central observers to the meeting of the state legislature.

This came after Rupani in a surprise move earlier on Saturday tendered his resignation.

Rupani, who was sworn-in as the Gujarat Chief Minister on August 7, 2016, resigned 15 months ahead of the assembly polls.