Bhupendra Patel, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, took oath as Gujarat Chief Minister for the second time on Monday in Gandhinagar, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and other dignitaries.
Many people were surprised when the Bharatiya Janata Party announced Bhupendra Patel’s name as a replacement for Vijay Rupani in 2021. Following the BJP’s historic victory in the Gujarat Assembly Election 2022, the Ghatlodia MLA was elected as the party’s legislative party leader.
The BJP won 156 seats under his leadership, ensuring Bhupendra Patel’s second consecutive term as chief minister.
BJP’s Bhupendra Patel takes oath as the Chief Minister of Gujarat for the second consecutive time. pic.twitter.com/TcWIq5HcYc
— ANI (@ANI) December 12, 2022
Here’s 5 things to know about Bhupendra Patel:
- Since his youth, the engineer-turned-politician has been involved with the RSS. He met Anandiben Patel after joining mainstream politics in the 1990s and finishing his engineering diploma. Since then, he has been involved in civic politics before running in the 2017 assembly election.
- In Gujarat, the second-time CM is known as the BJP’s silent troubleshooter. The 60-year-old is also known for his strong decision-making abilities. “In just one year, he solved a lot of problems…without any publicity,” BJP functionary Mukesh Dixit told Hindustan Times.
- Patel, affectionately known as ‘Dada,’ is a devotee of Dada Bhagwan’s Akram Vignan Movement. It is a religious movement that was inspired by Jainism.
- Patel is one of the few politicians who is praised for his clean record, as he has never been charged with a crime. He owns a construction company and used to work solely from his site office before becoming an MLA in 2017.
The Bharatiya Janata Party won 156 seats in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly elections, setting a new record. The Congress lost ground, with its vote total falling below 20, while the Aam Aadmi Party, a newcomer to Gujarat politics, won five seats. The elections were held in two phases across 33 districts in the BJP-ruled state on December 1 and 5.
