New Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel will take oath today on September 13 in a ceremony at 2:20pm on Monday. The ceremony is expected to be attended by Home Minister Amit Shah and chief ministers of Goa CM Pramod Sawant, Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar, Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The Ghatlodia MLA will replace Vijay Rupani, who had resigned from his post on Saturday.
With Vijay Rupani’s resignation as the Chief Minister, Bhupendra Patel became the fourth CM in the BJP-led state government in the country this year to opt for this move. Earlier, former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat and Trivendra Singh Rawat tendered their resignations. Fondly addressed as ‘Dada’ by his supporters, Bhupendrabhai Rajnikanthbhai Patel is known for his gentle personality and is said to be a protege of former chief minister Anandiben Patel. The announcement of the 59-year-old BJP leader’s name as the Chief Minister-elect at a legislative party meeting of the BJP on Sunday came as a surprise for many as the low-profile MLA was not seen to be among the top contenders for the post. Born in Ahmedabad, Bhupendra Patel is an MLA from the Ghatlodia seat, previously held by former chief minister and now Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel. Patel is known to be close to Amit Shah as well as Anandiben Patel. Patel won his seat by over 117,000 votes in 2017, the largest margin in that poll defeating Congress candidate Shashikant Patel. Ghatlodia is part of the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat represented by Amit Shah.
