By naming Bhupendra Patel as Gujarat CM, BJP is trying to kill many birds with one stone

Bhupendra Patel (left) and Vijay Rupani in Ahmedabad on Sunday (Image : Special Arrangement)

In a major surprise, first-time MLA Bhupendra Patel was selected as the new chief minister of Gujarat. Patel is extremely low profile and although his name was announced after a meeting of BJP leaders and MLAs, he is believed to be the personal choice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Surprise choice

Bhupendra is a legislator from Ghatlodiya assembly seat in Ahmedabad and inherited this assembly berth after his mentor Anandiben moved away as a governor. Outgoing chief minister Vijay Rupani, from the Jain community, had been nominated as the Gujarat chief minister at the instance of union home minister Amit Shah.

Also Read: A Patidar face who is a first-time MLA: All you need to know about Bhupendra Patel, Gujarat’s next chief minister

The thinking at that time was that the BJP in Gujarat was over-dependent on Patel votes and this did not augur well for the party. Evidence of this at that time (around 2015) came in the form of the Patel agitation that brought BJP on the back foot at that time.

Therefore, Modi with the help of Amit Shah tried to break the Patel stranglehold after this. This is why Vijay Rupani was anointed as the chief minister.

Unfortunately, times were bad. Besides being a non-Patel, Rupani had also to bear the consequences of Covid (which took many lives in the state and made people upset) and growing unemployment and the poor economic situation consequently.

Now with a Patel chief minister and a new face, the BJP hopes to consolidate its position in the state and get over the anti-incumbency effect at the next polls. But Bhupendra Patel who is still in his first term as an MLA is virtually unknown among journalists and other prominent groups. “All of us were taken by surprise at his nomination,” a senior journalist said.

A contractor by profession and with a diploma in civil engineering, the 59-year-old Bhupendra Patel will depend on ‘help’ to run the government. Modi has left his former advisor in the chief minister’s office K Kailāsnathan. A former IAS officer Kailasnathan is expected to guide the new chief minister and keep his eyes on the government.

Bhupendra Patel is the former chairman of the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA) that overlooks the growth and development of Ahmedabad and is said to be a major position. He has his roots in north Gujarat and is a Kadwa Patel.

What happens to Nitin Patel?

Most of the other Patels in BJP are Leuva Patels who belong to Saurashtra. With the entry of Bhupendra Patel, a question mark has been thrown on the future of present deputy chief minister Nitin Patel who is also a Kadwa Patel.

Nitin was a chief ministerial aspirant not only this time but also previously when Vijay Rupani was appointed. But Nitin did not meet the BJP high command’s approval both times and analysts expect him to be dropped from the cabinet of Bhupendra Patel.

“In a Patel-dominated polity of Gujarat, a Patel chief minister gives a natural advantage to the party. But Modi was avoiding a Patel chief minister because he felt that the Patels could gang up against the BJP,” said a political analyst in Ahmedabad.

Also Read: Bhupendra Patel to take oath as Gujarat CM today; Amit Shah to attend the swearing-in

The Patels comprising about 17 percent of the voters are very homogeneous and conscious of their own identity and status. They are also prosperous and entrepreneurial, which makes them very influential.

In the new circumstances, both Modi and the Patels would be happy with the new arrangement. There will be a not so strong chief minister who will constantly reach the central echelons of the BJP for running the government.

On the other hand, the Patels will be happy because they will have one of their own as the chief minister.  Thus it will be a win-win situation for Modi and the Patels.

However, the buzz in Gandhinagar is that to strengthen the BJP two deputy chief ministers could be appointed. One of them could be an OBC representative and the other a tribal representative.

This representation will keep all the communities happy and help BJP to garner their support and consequently their votes in the next elections at the end of 2022. This is even as the BJP can keep its Patel vote bank intact.

For those who came in late, the Patels as a group began supporting the BJP en masse from the early 1990s after deserting the Congress in droves.