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Ending speculation over who would head the state of Gujarat after Vijay Rupani's shocking exit, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Bhupendra Patel was elected the leader of the legislative party on Sunday, 12 September.
The meeting attended by the party's central observer Narendra Singh Tomar, effectively clears the way for Patel to become Gujarat's next chief minister.
Who Is Bhupendra Patel?
According to news agency ANI, Patel is a BJP member of Legislative Assembly from the Ghatlodiya seat, which he had won by a margin of 1,17,000 – the largest in that election – votes in 2017.
With a diploma in civil engineering, Patel is widely perceived as a protégé of former Gujarat Chief Minister and present Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel.
In fact his seat of Ghatlodiya had earlier been occupied by Anandiben.
A part of the influential and politically crucial Patidar community, Patel, a first-time MLA, is the trustee of organisations like Ghatlodiya, reports The Times of India (TOI).
From being the president of the Memnagagar Nagarpalika in 1999-2000, to being a councillor in Thaltej in 2010-15, Patel has donned several hats in his political career, reports TOI.
He has also served as the chairperson of the Ahmedabad Urban Development authority and is a former chairperson of the standing committee of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.
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