Gandhinagar: Gujarat BJP MLA Bhupendra Patel, who staked claim to form the government on Sunday after the sudden resignation of Vijay Rupani as the chief minister, will be taking an oath to become the next chief minister in a ceremony today.
Union minister Amit Shah is expected to fly down to Gujarat for the oath-taking ceremony later in the day.
Fifty-nine-year-old MLA Bhupendra Patel was named the next Gujarat Chief Minister at a meeting of BJP legislators on Sunday, a day after the unexpected resignation of Vijay Rupani.
Bhupendra Patel, who is a first-time MLA from the Ghatlodia constituency in Ahmedabad, won the 2017 Gujarat assembly election with over 1.17 lakh votes.
Bhupendra Patel holds a diploma in civil engineering from the Government Polytechnic Ahmedabad and had declared more than ₹ 5 crores in assets in his 2017 election papers. Bhupendra Patel has been chairman of the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA) in the past and has also led the Standing Committee of Amdavad Municipal Corporation (AMC).
According to BJP sources, Bhupendra Patel was a surprise decision by the party as he was not listed among the main contenders after Vijay Rupani’s exit.
