Gujarat Election Results: Bharatiya Janta Party’s Chief Minister candidate Bhupendrabhai Patel emerged victorious from the hot seat of the Ghatlodia assembly constituency on Thursday. He defeated Congress’ Dr. Amee Yajnik.
Patel got over 2 lakh votes while Yajnik got around 21000 votes. AAP’s Vijay Patel finished third with a little over 15000 votes.
Not only Patel, but as many as 160 candidates of the party are moving towards a grand win establishing BJP again in the state with a bigger number. In the 2017 assembly polls, the BJP won 99 seats while Congress got 77.
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Who Is Bhupendra Patel?
Bhupendra Patel is the Chief Minister of Gujarat and a sitting MLA from the Ghatlodia assembly constituency. He belongs to the Patidar community and holds a diploma in civil engineering. He was made the Chief Minister of state in 2021 when the then CM Vijay Rupani decided to step down.
He is a close aide of former Gujarat CM and ex-MLA of Ghatlodia Anandiben Patel.
Bhupendra Patel as CM
Interestingly, Bhupendra Patel is a first-time MLA, and he won from the Gahtlodia seat in the 2017 Assembly Polls with a margin of over one lakh votes, the highest winning margin in the polls. He had defeated Congress’ Shashikant Patel.
It was a shock to many when BJP picked Bhupendra Patel as the Chief Minister of Gujarat because he was relatively a low-profile politician. It was said that the then-outgoing CM Vijay Rupani had named Patel his successor.
Prior To Becoming CM
Bhupendra Patel had never held any ministerial berth before being appointed as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, which was the exact case with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PM Modi had never occupied any ministerial berth before being appointed as the Gujarat Chief Minister.
Prior to his appointment as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Patel was a councillor in Thaltej from 2010 to 2015.
Congress is the major loser in the polls with a sharp decline from its previous numbers. It is leading on seats while the new entrant AAP, which claimed to form government in the state, is leading merely on 6 seats in the state.