Ahmedabad:Nitin Patel, who has been a constant in the Gujarat cabinet since 1990, was considered the favourite to be the next chief minister. However, when outgoing chief minister Vijay Rupani stepped down, the BJP high command picked Bhupendra Patel as his successor, much to the surprise of all.
While the BJP central leadership has maintained that it wanted a fresh face, sources in the knowhow of things said it is the open rebellion of Patel after the 2017 Assembly elections that irked the likes of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, and in turn, saw the veteran BJP leader miss the chief ministerial berth for the third time.
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After the people of Gujarat handed another mandate to the BJP in the 2017 Assembly polls, Patel was made the deputy chief minister. However, when the then Chief Minister Vijay Rupani decided to keep the finance portfolio to himself, Patel, a contender for the plum portfolio, expressed his dissent in the open and refused to assume the office of the deputy chief minister.
However, on Monday, Nitin Patel was among the 2,000 people at a function of the Patidar Samaj in Mehsana who greeted the new Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel. The senior leader also urged all the Patidars to applaud the new chief minister. "I have not been left alone. I’ve been at the party for 30 years. The BJP has given me so much. No one can take me out of the hearts of the people," he said.
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, who was sent as a BJP observer to elect a new chief minister in Gujarat, told the media that Nitin Patel will continue to remain an important figure for the party, and his services and experience will be utilised in the upcoming Assembly polls.
