Bhupendra Patel swearing-in Updates: Modi wishes new Gujarat CM, appreciates Rupani for pro-people policies

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Bhupendra Patel takes oath as Gujarat CM

First-term MLA Bhupendra Patel was on Monday sworn in Gujarat chief minister, two days after Vijay Rupani’s surprise exit from the post, a year ahead of the Assembly polls.

One final pat on the back for Vijay Rupani from PM Modi

PM Modi said that former Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani worked tirelessly for all sections of the society. “During his five years as CM, Vijay Rupani Ji has undertaken many people-friendly measures. He worked tirelessly for all sections of society. I am certain he will continue to contribute to public service in the times to come,” PM Modi said.

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Bhupendra Patel conducts Gau Puja before taking charge as CM

Gujarat CM-designate Bhupendra Patel offers 'gau pooja' at Swaminarayan Temple in Ahmedabad pic.twitter.com/3Y0X96UXno

— ANI (@ANI) September 13, 2021

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Why BJP choosing Kadva-Patidar leader as CM over Jain Vijay Rupani makes political sense

The BJP has been struggling to consolidate its once rock-solid Patidar voterbase, which began eroding after the 2015 Patidar reservation stir. It settled for a novel power-sharing formula by making Nitin Patel the deputy CM while handing over reins to Vijay Rupani, a Jain. But as poll season neared, the Patidar community leaders made it clear that this token measure will not suffice if the party wants their support. 

In June this year, leaders of both Kadva and Leuva Patidar communities, who often do not mingle in terms of marital and social bonds, decided to set aside their differences and unite to exert their weight in the political arena. 

“We want our Patidar brothers in political parties to be given main responsibilities in Gujarat. Be it the BJP or Congress, Patidars should get top posts. Why shouldn’t the next state unit Congress chief be from our community?” Naresh Patel, chairman of Khodaldham Trust, who spearheaded the efforts to bring the two sub-castes of the community together, told reporters in June. In the same vein, he said the community is of the view that the next chief minister should be a Patidar.

Then chief minister Vijay Rupani was from minority Jain community which forms just two percent of the total population in Gujarat. Incumbent state BJP president CR Paatil is from the Marathi community settled in south Gujarat. Add these facts together and it becomes clear that Rupani’s exit had more reasons than meets the eye.

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BJP picks first-ever Kadva Patidar leader to helm Gujarat

Patidars are an important vote bank in the state of Gujarat, accounting for 12-14 percent of the population and they hold sway in more than 70 out of 182 assembly constituencies. They cost BJP a massive chunk of their vote share in 2017 state polls after a people-led movement demanding reservation turned political and massively anti-BJP. The party had secured nearly 60 percent votes in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. In 2017, the BJP got close to 49.1 percent votes.

However, the Patidars are not one monolithic whole, and their concerns are not homogeneous.

The first split is between the Leuva and Kadva Patels — believed to be descendants of Ramayana’s last generation Luv and Kush — and they belong to Saurashtra, a peninsular, fertile belt. Their Leuva Patidars are the owners of big diamond and real estate businesses, who are strongly opposed to the idea of even marrying their children into the other sub-caste. They are also the more dominant when it comes to politics.

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Amit Shah likely to attend oath-taking ceremony

 New Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel will take oath today in a ceremony expected to be attended by Home Minister Amit Shah and chief ministers of four BJP-led states. Goa CM Pramod Sawant, Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar, and Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan are expected to attend the oath-taking ceremony

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Gujarat CM replaced in bid to mislead people: Congress

Congress leader Rashid Alvi on Monday took a dig at BJP by criticizing the move to change leadership in Gujarat. A day after the first-time MLA, Bhupendra Patel was chosen as the new CM face of the BJP Legislative Party in Gujarat, Alvi lashed out at the party and said that the move was to “mislead” the people of the state adding that the party replaces chief ministers to “transfer blame for all their crimes”. 

Speaking to news agency ANI, Alvi said, “It’s is the character of the BJP. Wherever there is the BJP government, there is no trace of development despite the name changing of roads and cities. They believe, it is development. In the name of law and order, the states are witnessing “Jungle Raj”. They transfer the blame for all their crime to the name of the Chief Minister and takes them out. And to mislead the people of the state they introduce a new Chief Minister.”

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Bhupendra Patel meets Vijay Rupani 

Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel, who will take oath today, met Vijay Rupani who resigned from the Chief Minister’s position on Saturday.

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In first executive order even before swearing-in, Bhupendra Patel orders flood relief for Jamnagar

જામનગર જિલ્લામાં અતિભારે વરસાદને કારણે અસર પામેલા 3 ગામોના અને પાણીમાં ફસાયેલા તમામ લોકોને તાત્કાલિક મદદ તેમજ સહાય પહોંચાડી સલામત સ્થળે ખસેડવા અને એર લિફ્ટની વ્યવસ્થા કરવા જીલ્લા વહીવટી તંત્ર સાથે વાત કરીને સંબંધિત સૂચનાઓ આપી છે.

— Bhupendra Patel (@Bhupendrapbjp) September 13, 2021

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Nitin Patel clears air on being miffed, says Bhupendra Patel like family

After an initial outburst of emotions, wherein Nitin Patel commented that no one can throw him out because he enjoyed people’s support, the former deputy CM has now said that he is not one to get bitter over posts. 

 “Bhupendra Patel is my old family friend. I congratulated him. We will be happy to see him take oath as CM. He has also asked for my guidance whenever needed,” Patel was quoted as saying by News18.

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Why did BJP pick another Patidar to helm Gujarat ahead of elections?

The Patidars are an economically and politically influential group in Gujarat. Until the late 1970s, they enjoyed political dominance across the state, and were ardent Congress supporters.

However, in the 1980s, the Congress shifted focus to the famous KHAM alliance (Kshatriya, Harijan, Adivasi, Muslim), given the reservation dynamics and former prime minister Indira Gandhi’s garibi hatao slogan. This peeved the Patels, who shifted allegiance to the BJP. Today, one-third of the BJP MLAs are Patels, and so are seven senior cabinet ministers.

According to experts, it is the support by the Patidar community which has been clinching the deal in favour of BJP for the past two decades.

Figures suggest that Patidars can influence election results in more than 70 out of 182 assembly constituencies as they form around 15 percent or more of the electorate in 71 constituencies. Of about 6 crore population of Gujarat, Patidars constitute 1.5 crore, an estimated 12-14 percent of the population

The break-up of BJP’s vote share, over the years, shows that approximately one-fourth of it can be attributed to the Patidars. Out of 48 percent vote share BJP received in 2012, 11 percent came from the Patidars.

BJP has picked in Bhupendra Patel its last Gujarat CM, says Hardik Patel

Patidar leader Hardik Patel  on Sunday said that Bhupendra Patel, who also belongs to his community, would be the BJP’s last chief minister in Gujarat as the people of the state have decided to throw the saffron party out of power at least for the next 25 years. 

Bhupendra Patel (59) was unanimously elected as BJP legislative party leader here on Sunday, a day after Vijay Rupani resigned from the post. Patel will be sworn in as the chief minister on Monday.

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No one can throw me out: Nitin Patel after losing out on CM post

Hours after the ruling BJP selected a new chief minister for Gujarat, Deputy CM Nitin Patel, who has once again missed the bus, said he has seen many ups and downs, and asserted that nobody can “throw him out” as he lives in people’s heart.

Patel, while addressing people during a function in Mehsana town on Sunday evening, also said in a lighter vein that he was not the only one who had missed the bus as there were “many others” like him. 

“There were many others who also missed the bus. I was not the only one. So do not look at this development in that way. It’s the party which makes decisions. People make wrong speculations. I told Yadavji (after the MLA meeting) that I have to attend this programme. I would have myself given it a pass if it was not of that much importance. But since it was very important, even Yadavji gave his consent,” Patel said.

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Gujarat CM-designate meets ex-deputy CM Nitin Patel

 It made for an interesting television moment when Gujarat CM-designate met his predecessor’s deputy and one of the frontrunners in race to chief ministership, Nitin Patel on Monday morning. Bhupendra visited Nitin’s residence and greeted him. The latter had expressed some disappointment in losing out the race to a relative novice in Bhupendra. When asked about his reaction, Nitin had told reporters that he was at least happy that he wasn’t the only one to have missed the proverbial bus.

Vijay Rupani latest political casualty for mishandling pandemic in list of BJP CMs

Rupani, the fourth chief minister to demit office in BJP-ruled states during the coronavirus pandemic, was sworn in as chief minister — his second stint as CM – in December 2017. He completed five years in office on August 7 this year. 

While the BJP did not give any reason for the change in leadership, media circles were abuzz with possible reasons. 

A report in India Today said that other than the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic by the Vijay Rupani-led Gujarat government, the economic and social distress that followed might have also contributed to his “downfall”.

Another source said that Vijay Rupani’s leadership quality was also under the scanner as the BJP had failed to cross the 100-mark with him at the helm in the 2017 assembly polls.

One of the major reasons behind Vijay Rupani’s resignation was also the alleged lack of coordination between him and BJP Gujarat president CR Patil.

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BJP springs a surprise again in picking Rupani’s replacement: Meet Gujarat CM-designate

Patel’s name was not in the long list of probables being discussed in state political circles and he emerged as the dark horse, a political observer said. A soft-spoken leader, Patel has had a meteoric rise in state politics, starting at the municipality level.

He contested his maiden Assembly election in 2017 and won Ghatlodia constituency in Ahmedabad by over 1.17 lakh votes, the highest victory margin in the state during that election. 

Fondly called ‘Dada’ by many, Patel’s constituency is part of the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat represented by Union minister Amit Shah. He holds a diploma in civil engineering, always has a smiling face and is well-connected to the grassroots, a party worker said.

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First-time MLA Bhupendra Patel landed CM gig just like PM Modi

Patel has never held a ministerial post, just like Prime Minister Narendra 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 the Rajkot seat bypoll.

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The Darkhorse who went unnoticed by own colleagues

According to CNN-News18, Bhupendra Patel was planting saplings in his constituency with a handful of supporters on Sunday when he is said to have learnt that he was to be the next chief minister. He even caught no one’s attention when he reached the BJP Legislature Party meeting at 3pm, where he sat towards the end of the hall and his name was then announced as the unanimous choice as the new CM.

Bhupendra Patel to be sworn-in as Gujarat CM today

Bhupendra Patel will take oath as the 17th chief minister of Gujarat today at 2.20 pm, replacing Vijay Rupani, who unexpectedly stepped down from the post of chief minister in the state, ahead of the assembly elections in 2022. Governor Acharya Devvrat shared the information on his official twitter handle. 

राजभवन में भारतीय जनता पार्टी के विधायक दल के नवनियुक्त नेता श्री भूपेंद्रभाई पटेल जी ने अपने नेतृत्व में नई सरकार गठित करने का प्रस्ताव प्रस्तुत किया। प्रस्ताव को स्वीकार कर मुख्यमंत्री पद के शपथ ग्रहण के लिए उनको 13 सितंबर, 2021को दोपहर 2:20 बजे आमंत्रित किया। pic.twitter.com/gTZrUYKRdW

— Acharya Devvrat (@ADevvrat) September 12, 2021