1st-term MLA Patel to be new Gujarat CM

GANDHINAGAR, Sept 12: First-term MLA Bhupendra Patel will be the new Chief Minister of Gujarat. Patel (59) was unanimously elected BJP legislature party leader here today.
He will be sworn in as the Chief Minister today, State BJP chief C R Paatil said. The proposal to elect him the legislature party leader was moved by CM Vijay Rupani, whose resignation on Saturday, over a year ahead of the State Assembly polls, surprised many political observers. Most of the 112 MLAs of the party in the 182-member Assembly were present at the meeting, BJP sources said. Soon after the meeting, Patel, accompanied by senior BJP leaders, met Governor Acharya Devvrat at the Raj Bhavan.
Patel presented a letter to form the Government, which was accepted by the Governor, the sources said. In Monday’s swearing-in ceremony, only Patel will take oath and other Ministers will be inducted later, they said. 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 and on way to becoming the CM in his first term as an MLA. (PTI)