MP Congress stirs row; slams Bhupendra Patel's elevation as CM based on Twitter following

The Congress party stirred a row on Sunday by judging BJP's Gujarat CM choice Bhupendra Patel on the basis of his followers on microblogging platform Twitter. At 4.16 pm a day earlier, the Madhya Pradesh unit of Congress highlighted cited Patel's follower count to suggest that he had the backing of only about 14,000 people across the country. Moreover, it claimed, "This is a slap on the face of the people of Gujarat by Narendra Modi".

Meanwhile, Gujarat Congress working president Hardik Patel wrote an open letter to Patel questioning him on what the latter can achieve in one year that BJP couldn't do in the last 25 years. He added, "The BJP has appointed in you its last chief minister, because the people of Gujarat have made up their mind to throw the anti-poor, anti-youth BJP out of power, at least for the next 25 years. Now the time has come to change the entire government and not just the Chief Minister."

Change of guard in Gujarat

In an unforeseen development on September 11, Vijay Rupani tendered his resignation as the Chief Minister of Gujarat without giving any specific reason. Addressing a press briefing, Rupani remarked, "I thank BJP for giving me important responsibility as Chief Minister. I kept getting the guidance of PM Modi Ji. I express my gratitude to the Prime Minister for the opportunity I got in the development journey of Gujarat". While BJP general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh and Gujarat in-charge Bhupender Yadav were already present in the state, Union Ministers Pralhad Joshi and Narendra Tomar were rushed as observers.

Though speculation was rife that Deputy CM Nitin Patel, Cabinet Minister RC Faldu and state BJP vice president Gordhan Zadafia were the top contenders for the post, Bhupendra Patel was elected as the new CM in a meeting of the BJP Legislative Party on September 12. Belonging to the dominant Patidar caste, Patel is a first-time MLA who trounced his Congress opponent in Ghatlodia by a margin of 1,17,750 votes. He is perceived to be a close aide of Uttar Pradesh Governor and former Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel who won from this seat earlier.

An engineer, Bhupendra Patel has served as the chairman of the Standing Committee of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation as well as the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority. He will be administered the oath of office and secrecy by Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat at 2.20 pm later in the day. Having faced a backlash over the Patidar agitation, Patel's appointment is seen as BJP's attempt to bolster their chances for re-election in the 2022 Assembly election.