Amit Shah man Vijay Rupani elected as Gujarat CM; Nitin Patel his deputy
New Delhi: In a dramatic turnaround, Gujarat BJP chief Vijay Rupani on Friday edged past Nitin Patel to bag the coveted Chief Minister’s post in the state, with the exercise clearly showing the hand of BJP president Amit Shah.
Till Friday afternoon, Mr Patel, confident of succeeding Ms Anandiben Patel, had started speaking to the media, giving interviews to TV channels and talking of the “road map ahead”.
Proximity with Amit Shah paid off
On Friday, by 5.30 pm, the situation changed completely, and Mr Rupani, who on Thursday had said that he was withdrawing from the race, was named Chief Minister and Mr Patel the deputy Chief Minister.
Mr Hardik Patel, who is leading the Patidar community’s agitation, said, “By making Rupani Chief Minister, the BJP has insulted the Patels”. Mr Rupani, who was state transport minister, belongs to the Jain-Baniya community, that comprises only four per cent of the state’s population.
Mr Rupani was picked for the state’s top job by party MLAs at a meeting in Ahmedabad on Friday. The meeting saw the participation of Mr Shah and senior leader and Union minister Nitin Gadkari.
What apparently tipped the scales in favour of Mr Rupani was Mr Nitin Patel’s jumping the gun, speaking to the media and giving interviews to TV channels as well as accepting congratulations even before party legislators and Mr Shah had taken a decision.
Mr Rupani, who will replace Ms Anandiben Patel, is known as an Amit Shah loyalist. His name was cleared only after there was a green signal from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Though Mr Rupani is from a non-dominant caste, his loyalists pointed out that he belongs to Saurashtra, which has a significant population of both Patels and Dalits. It was claimed that Mr Rupani has a considerable hold among the Patels. Both the Chief Minister and his deputy have tasks cut out for them.
Who is Vijay Rupani?
60-year-old Rupani has worked with ABVP, RSS and Jan Sangh. He is the only minister in the present cabinet to have been jailed during the Emergency. He has served as a corporator in Rajkot and was also a member of Rajya Sabha. He served as BJP’s Gujarat unit general secretary, and Chairman of the Gujarat Finance Board during chief ministership of Modi.
