(Gandhinagar, Guj)First-term MLA Bhupendra Patel Takes Over Baton as 17th CM:Gujarat .Patel (59), unanimously elected BJP legislature party leader on Sunday, was sworn in as the state’s 17th chief minister by Governor Acharya Devvrat at a simple ceremony at Raj Bhavan.Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar, Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Goa CM Pramod Sawant and Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai were present,Patel’s predecessor Vijay Rupani and former deputy chief minister Nitin Patel were among those present at the ceremony.As decided by the party, only Patel took the oath. The council of ministers will take oath during the !next few days after their names are finalised, BJP sources said.
The Patidars are a dominant caste in Gujarat with a sizeable control over the electoral votes and dominate the political economy with a stronghold over education, realty and cooperative sectors.
Patel’s elevation – he is the first from the Patidar sub-group to be chief minister – is key to BJP’s plans to woo the Kadva Patidar community, which some political observers feel, has drifted away from the party.
He is a trustee of Sardardham, the Patidar community organisation that hosted the programme where Modi was the chief guest on Saturday.
Born in Ahmedabad, Patel is an MLA from the Ghatlodia seat, previously held by former chief minister and now Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel. He won the seat by over 1.17 lakh votes in 2017, the highest margin in that poll. Ghatlodia is part of the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency represented by Shah.
Patel has never held a ministerial post, just like Modi, who was never a minister when he became Gujarat CM 20 years ago. Modi was sworn in as CM on October 7, 2001, and became an MLA on February 24, 2002, by winning a bypoll.