Form of words:
New Delhi: The man to take over from Vijay Rupani as the Chief Minister of Gujarat is 59-year-old Bhupendra Patel, an engineer, builder and ardent follower of spiritual guru Dada Bhagwan, the founder of Akram Vigyan Andolan. prevalent in Jainism.
Patel used to visit the Dada Bhagwan temple in Ahmedabad every once in a while, and even when he went to meet Governor Acharya Devvrat as the newly elected leader of the BJP legislature party, he stopped at the late guru’s ‘trimandir’. Went. to seek blessings.
BJP leaders and others who have worked with him say that one of the reasons he was elected as the new chief minister is his humility and ability to work with everyone without arrogance, just like his guru Dada Bhagwan.
Read also: BJP’s olive branch for Gujarat’s new CM Bhupendra Patel Patidars, Anandiben Patel persuades PM
old relationship with modi
On Saturday, when the BJP high command asked Rupani to resign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was attending a Bhoomi Pujan ceremony for Sardar Dham, a project to house 2,000 girl students. The project has been developed by Patidar Trust, whose trustee is Bhupendra Patel.
Before becoming an MLA, Patel was a councillor, the then chairman of the school board and chairman of the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority. He got into Modi’s good books when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, and Patel took over as the Chairman of the Standing Committee of AUDA. He implemented Modi’s vision of development of Ahmedabad by building bridges, redeveloping and beautifying the city. The Ahmedabad Ring Road project was one of the projects executed by AUDA under Patel’s chairmanship to decongest the crowd, which was appreciated by Modi.
Patel worked under the guidance of Anandiben Patel when she was the CM, and once she was appointed governor, he recommended her name to contest from the Ghatlodiya seat. In the 2017 assembly elections, Bhupendra Patel defeated Shaktikanta Patel of Congress by a margin of over one lakh votes.
In his address in Gujarati after being elected the leader, he first thanked PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, but did not try to hide his proximity to Anandiben Patel, former Uttar Pradesh CM and current governor, whom he repeatedly referred to. Thanks once.
More recently, during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the entire Rupani government was blamed for negligence in healthcare, Patel helped people by arranging oxygen cylinders and beds in the hospital.
‘A politician who has no enemies’
BJP leader Ashok Patel, who worked with the new CM at AUDA, told ThePrint: “He is humble and easy to work with. (hence) everyone helped him to reach this coveted position. His previous work also went in his favour, as the party wanted to elect someone from the Patidar community.
On condition of anonymity, a close aide of the new CM said in Gujarat, ’99 per cent of politicians are business first’ and Bhupendra Patel himself is a builder. “His family handles the construction business. But unlike Nitin Patel and other big Patidar leaders, he is a man who has no enemies,” said the friend.
Another friend and BJP leader Rajesh Patel said: “He is a political dark horse. Like Modi, he never held a ministerial post; He went straight to the post of CM.
A third friend of the new CM, who wished to remain anonymous, said the PM chose Patel for optics, but it is a big part of politics. “She is one of the trustees of Vishwa Umiya Foundation – Umiya is the goddess of Patel community in North Gujarat, where BJP suffered heavy losses in 2017. It may be optics, but optics play a role in politics. needs to be appeased like BJP is doing in UP,” said this friend.
Unlike Keshubhai Patel, former CM and BJP’s Vishal Patel leader, who belonged to the Leuva sub-caste, Bhupendra Patel belongs to the Kadwa community with influence in north Gujarat.
Some Gujarat BJP leaders say it may be that PM Modi chose Patel so that the next generation of Patidar leaders like Mansukh Mandaviya can join his profile and be ready to take up the post in a year or two. They believe that the immediate need was for a person who could perform in the manner of Delhi and take reconciliation steps for the Patidar community.
However, a BJP leader offered a different stand, which some others agree with.
“After all, Gujarat voted on the name and work of the Prime Minister. The experience of PM and Amit Shah will make things easier for Patel. They wanted a person who could work with everyone and pacify the sentiments of the Patels. But their inexperience may cost the BJP heavily,” warned this leader.
(Edited by Shreyas Sharma)
subscribe our channel youtube And Wire
Why is the news media in crisis and how can you fix it?
India needs free, unbiased, non-hyphenated and questionable journalism even more as it is facing many crises.
But the news media itself is in trouble. There have been brutal layoffs and pay cuts. The best of journalism are shrinking, yielding to raw prime-time spectacle.
ThePrint has the best young journalists, columnists and editors to work for it. Smart and thinking people like you will have to pay the price for maintaining this quality of journalism. Whether you live in India or abroad, you can Here.