Who is Bhupendra Patel?: All you need to know about the new Gujarat CM

A day after the unexpected resignation of Vijay Rupani, Fifty-nine-year-old MLA Bhupendra Patel was named the next Gujarat Chief Minister at a meeting of BJP legislators on Sunday.

Patel will now lead Gujarat in its next assembly election in 2022. The announcement is surprising as Patel is a first-time minister of Gujarat. He was reportedly not even listed among the main contenders.

Also Read Bhupendra Patel named new Gujarat CM, to succeed Vijay Rupani

Union home minister Amit Shah expressed confidence in Bhupendra Patel's leadership amid allegations that he will only be a "remote-controlled" CM

Here is all you need to know about the new chief minister of Gujarat

• Bhupendra Patel association with the RSS goes back a long time. However, he is a first-time minister.
• Patel is believed to be a close aide of former Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel.
• Bhupendra Patel is a first time MLA from Gujarat's Ghatlodiya. In 2017 he defeated Congress's Shashikant Patel by more than 1 lakh votes
• Bhupendra Patel belongs to the Patidar community, which the BJP is reportedly keen to appease ahead of next year's assembly elections
• Bhupendra Patel held various administrative posts of civic bodies in past. He served as the chairman of the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority. He also served as the president of Memnagar Nagarpalika.
• The new CM is an engineer by profession. He holds a diploma in civil engineering from the Government Polytechnic Ahmedabad
• Patel declared more than ₹ 5 crore in assets in his 2017 election papers. He is believed to have a very clear political background with no criminal record, according to reports