Who will be chief minister if BJP wins Gujarat polls? Amit Shah says this

Bhupendra Patel will be chief minister again in Gujarat if the BJP secures a majority in the next month's Assembly elections, senior party leader Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said.

That's a clear statement from the top leadership on who the chief ministerial candidate in Gujarat is, though the BJP has not officially named anyone.

Shah said this in an interview with the television channel CNN-News18 on Monday. "If BJP gets a majority in Gujarat, Bhupendra Patel will be the next chief minister," he said.


Patel, a first-time MLA from the Ghatlodia constituency, replaced Vijay Rupani as chief minister in September 2021. He is contesting from the same seat this time.

The opposition Congress has not named a CM face for the Gujarat elections, while the Aam Aadmi Party, which is contesting aggressively this time, has announced party leader Isudan Gadhvi as the chief ministerial candidate.

Voting for the total of 182 seats in Gujarat will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5. Votes will be counted on December 8.

The BJP is eyeing the seventh consecutive term in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah. In the 2017 polls, the BJP's winning tally came down to two digits at 99 while the Congress bettered its performance by winning 77 seats.

The Gujarat contest this time will be more interesting with AAP aggressively projecting itself as the main challenger to BJP in the state.
(With PTI inputs)