With just over a year until the state elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) has chosen Bhupendra Patel, a first-time Member of the Legislative Assembly from Ghatlodia, to succeed Vijay Rupani as the Chief Minister of Gujarat. Patel will be sworn in as the CM on Monday, according to the party, and his new cabinet will be formed in a few days after consultations with senior leaders. Patel cited shortly after his appointment that he will continue the work begun by the outgoing government under Rupani. In the presence of central observers Narendra Singh Tomar and Prahlad Joshi, as well as party general secretary Tarun Chaug, Bhupendra Patel, 59, was elected at a meeting of state BJP legislators. CM Rupani suggested his name. Following the party's legislative meeting, the Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and BJP Gujarat-in-charge Narendra Singh Tomar announced Bhupendra Patel as the new leader of the BJP Legislative Party. Patel later met with state governor Acharya Devvrat to stake a claim to forming a government. Patel is a first-time MLA who has never served in any ministry before. Between 2015 and 2017, he served as the chairman of the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority, as well as the chairman of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation's standing committee from 2010 to 2015. Patel won the Ghatlodiya seat in the 2017 assembly elections by 117,000 votes over Congress candidate Shashikant Patel, the largest margin in that election. The new CM was chosen just a day after Rupani, 65, abruptly resigned from his post with no explanation. Rupani is the third CM of the BJP to resign in the last three months. BS Yediyurappa, the chief minister of Karnataka, resigned on July 26 with nearly two years left before his term ended in 2023. Tirath Singh Rawat, the CM of Uttarakhand, resigned on July 2 after it became clear that the Election Commission was opposed to holding a bypoll with only a few months until the elections. Image Source