Gandhinagar: Newly sworn-in Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, whose party the BJP broke the 2002 record of winning more assembly seats with Patel himself winning the Ghatlodia seat by a massive margin of nearly 2 lakh votes, has another task at hand--breaking the jinx of completing the tenure of five years by any Patel CM.
Patel took the oath as Chief Minister of Gujarat for the second time on Monday along with 17 MLAs. He replaced Vijay Rupani as the Chief Minister of Gujarat in September last year. Before Bhupendra Patel, Chiman Patel, Babubhai Patel, Keshubhai Patel and Anandiben Patel have become the Gujarat Chief Ministers.
But none of the candidates from the community could complete a five-year term as CM. Chiman Patel remained in power from 18 July 1973 to 9 February 1974 for a total of 207 days. He was replaced by Babubhai Patel who ruled from 18 June 1975 to 12 March 1976 for 268 days. With the fall of his government, President's rule was imposed in the state.
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After the President's rule, Madhav Singh Solanki's government was formed in Gujarat. He too ruled only for a total of 107 days. Babubhai Patel formed the government for the 2nd time and served as Chief Minister from 11 April 1977 to 6 June 1980. The Chief Minister of Janata Morcha ruled Gujarat from 4 March 1990 to 17 February 1994.
However, with the BJP withdrawing support from the coalition, Chiman Patel again took over as Chief Minister on 25 October 1990 with the support of the Congress. After his death due to a heart attack, Chhabildas Mehta completed the rest of the term. Keshu Patel became the Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat for the first time on 14 March 1995.
Patel resigned on 21 October 1995 after ruling for 221 days. After the election in 1998, he again became the Chief Minister of the state but resigned after the Gujarat earthquake. The current Prime Minister of Gujarat and former Chief Minister Narendra Modi had handed over the responsibility of the state to Anandiben Patel after his entry into national politics.
Anandiben was appointed as CM on 22 May 2014. However, due to the Patidar reservation movement, she was removed from the post in just 2 years and 77 days and replaced by Vijay Rupani. On 13 September 2021, Rupani was replaced by Bhupendra Patel which paid off for the BJP as it fetched a record 156 seats.
If Bhupendra Patel completes the five-year term, he will become the second longest-serving Chief Minister of Gujarat after Prime Minister Modi who ruled as the Chief Minister of Gujarat for 12 years 227 days. Apart from Narendra Modi, no one has been able to complete the tenure of five years as the Chief Minister.
