Bhupendra Patel
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A brief biography
As in 2021 Sept
Sep 12, 2021: The Times of India
From: Sep 12, 2021: The Times of India
NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced that Bhupendra Patel will be the new chief minister of Gujarat.
Patel, an MLA from Ghatlodiya constituency, will replace Vijay Rupani, who had resigned from the top post in an unexpected announcement.
Patel will be sworn-in as the chief minister and the decision regarding the new Gujarat cabinet will be taken after that.
The BJP MLA is considered as the close aide of former Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel, who was also a legislator from Ghatlodiya. After being chosen as the chief minister, Patel said he is glad to have the blessings of Anandiben Patel.
Patel, who belongs to the Patidar community, is the trustee at Patidar organizations Sardar Dham and Vishwa Umiya Foundation.
He served as the president of Memnagagar Nagarpalika in 1999-2000, vice-chairman of School Board of AMC in 2008-10 and councilor from Thaltej ward in 2010-15. He holds a diploma in civil engineering.
Dark horse
After Rupani's exit, it was strongly speculated that BJP would pick a Patidar as the new chief minister of Gujarat.
Deputy chief minister Nitin Patel, administrator of the union territories of Lakshadweep and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Praful Khoda Patel and Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya were among the list of contendors for the post.
However, Bhupendra Patel's name was not in the long list of probables being discussed in state political circles. In a way, the first term MLA emerged as the dark horse, a political observer said.
Who is Bhupendra Patel
Unanimously elected as the BJP legislature party leader, Bhupendra Patel, a first-time MLA, is known as a soft-spoken worker of the party who has made his way up in the state politics from the municipality level.
His name was floated by outgoing CM Vijay Rupani himself.
Fondly called as 'Dada' by many, Patel (59) had contested his maiden assembly election from Ghatlodia constituency in Ahmedabad in 2017 and won it by a margin of over 1.17 lakh votes, which was a record during that election.
Patel is former chairman of the standing committee of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC).
He has also served as the chairman of Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA).
Bhupendra Patel, a brief profile
Sep 13, 2021: The Times of India
Bhupendra Patel had no inkling that he would be chosen as the next CM of Gujarat. At 10am, he was planting trees near BRTS tracks in Bopal, which falls in his Ghatlodia constituency. Hours later, he was named for the top post.
A down-to-earth and softspoken politician known for his unassuming persona, Bhupendra’s regular hangout spot till a day ago used to be a paan parlour in Ghatlodia where he spent time with friends and supporters. He has had no criminal case against him since he debuted as a councillor from the Memnagar nagarpalika in 1994.
He earned a diploma in civil engineering from the government polytechnic college in Ahmedabad in 1982 and entered the construction sector thereafter. He was initially employed by a construction company in Ghatlodia gram panchayat for two years. Then he teamed up with a few friends to take up housing construction projects. In 1987, he came in contact with former Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel and joined BJP.
Bhupendra got his first political break as a councillor of the Memnagar nagarpalika in west Ahmedabad. His stint included the chairmanship of the nagarpalika’s standing committee and in 1999, he became the municipal body’s president. “During this time, Bhupendra Patel was responsible for the nagarpalika’s turnaround. House tax collection reached its highest level,” said Jignesh Pandya, a close associate of Bhupendra. “It was rare then for a nagarpalika to register a profit. That achievement gave Bhupendra some fame.”
Bhupendra returned to the nagarpalika president’s post in 2004 and held it for two and a half years before Memnagar was merged into the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC). He then went on to become the Ahmedabad Municipal School Board vicechairman. Around this time, his construction business began to grow.
Bhupendra’s big break came in 2010 when he was asked by Anandiben to contest from the Thaltej ward as a councillor. At the time she was the revenue and urban development minister.
He was made the AMC standing committee chairman when all other elected members were new in the civic body. “Bhupendra’s close association with Anandiben was known when he was put in charge of her assembly election campaign in 2012,” said an associate in the AMC. “He operated from a construction site office until he became the Ghatlodia MLA. He then finally bought office space where even today BJP karyakartas hold meetings.” Bhupendra is an ardent follower of Dada Bhagwan, said AMC councillor Jatin Patel.
