BJP picks Amit Shah's choice, names Vijay Rupani as Gujarat chief minister

Ahemedabad: In a huge surprise for political pundits, the BJP on Friday named state transport minister Vijay Rupani as Anandiben’s successor for the Chief Minister’s post. He is known to be a close confidante of BJP president Amit Shah.

Health Minister Nitin Patel who was the front runner to succeed Patel was made the deputy chief minister.

Rupani emerged as the choice for the top slot at the legislature party meeting attended by BJP chief Amit Shah and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, though it was widely speculated that the mantle would fall on Nitin Patel.

Rupani would be tasked with leading the party in the assembly polls due next year, overcoming the multiple challenges faced by it in the home state of prime minister Narendra Modi.

Hailing from Jain Baniya community, the 60-year-old has scaled the party rungs from being a grass-root worker and was jailed at the age of 22 during the Emergency. He had a term in the Rajya Sabha from 2006-12 and served as mayor of Rajkot city.

Earlier this year, Rupani was elected unopposed as BJP's Gujarat unit president in the backdrop of the debacle in local bodies polls and the Patel quota agitation. His nomination was backed by former CM Anandiben Patel.

BJP president Amit Shah, who was in the state to oversee the procedure, had been holding intense deliberations with party leaders before he finalised the new chief minister's name.

Among others, he met state BJP in-charge Dinesh Sharma, national joint general secretary (organisation) V Satish, party treasurer Surendra Patel, education minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama and former state BJP chief R C Faldu.

Other names that were doing the rounds for the post were that of Union minister Purshottam Rupala and Assembly Speaker Ganpat Vasava, a tribal leader.

Anandiben, who turns 75 this November, handed over her resignation to Governor O P Kohli on Wednesday.

Patel announced her decision to resign through a Facebook post last week, saying she thought it fit to step down since as she will turn 75 this November, the age cap set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the central and the state ministries.