BJP's political game of 'musical chair' over the Chief Minister post has been reaching across the country as the change of guard in the states that the party reign has become sequential. On Saturday, Chief Minister of BJP ruling Gujarat, Vijay Rupani has tendered his resignation, become the fourth BJP Chief Minister in this year to leave his job prematurely after two Chief Ministers - Trivendra Singh Rawat and Tirath Singh Rawat in Uttarakhand and BS Yediyurappa in Karnataka. 

Vijay Rupani had held the office of the Chief Minister for five years including a brief tenure of replacing his predecessor Anandiben Patel, who was made Governor, and getting elected to the post in 2017. Rupani's resignation had come a year ahead of the Gujarat assembly polls and though his ouster was on the card, it didn't become a national subject like Yediyurappa's exit. Rupani's exit was cooked as a sudden overhaul to prepare Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, to the assembly polls and to cultivate a landslide victory. 

The reports in the know have said that the BJP's Central leadership was not happy with Rupani as his governance was not in the fashion of gaining confidence in the polls. His administration had a stormic hit over handling the Covid-19 pandemic and leaving room for the emergence of the rival- Aam Aadmi Party, which is keenly establishing the base in the state and went on to win some of the local body seats. The central trio had engineered the overhaul in Gujarat and when Rupani met the Governor and tendered his resignation on Saturday, the news reached the nation and the BJP was speeding up its move to find a successor. 

After meeting Governor Acharya Devvrat and tabling his resignation, Rupani said, "I want to thank BJP for giving me this opportunity to serve as Gujarat's CM. During my tenure, I got the opportunity to add to the development of the state under PM Modi's leadership". He said that it has been a five-year journey for the development of Gujarat under the guidance of Prime Minister Modi. Rupani stated that he has decided to resign as Chief Minister to further develop the state with new energy and power.

He added, "It is well known that BJP, as a party, keeps changing as per requirements. It is a speciality of our party that every worker delivers the assigned job to the fullest, and I too will continue to work for the party with the same energy." Following his resignation, there were nationwide speculations on Rupani's successor and throwing weight on them, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel were on the race as both of them had held meetings with the BJP observers. It was the endgame on Sunday and BJP ended it by announcing a surprise pick.

On Sunday, the BJP had held the legislative party meet and after that, the Central ruling party has taken everyone into surprise by announcing the first-time MLA Bhupendra Patel as the next Chief Minister of Gujarat. Bhupendra Patel was neither a familiar face nor ruled the list of probables. Though he maintains a low profile, the BJP has decided to make him replace Vijay Rupani. According to reports, 59-year-old Bhupendra Patel was unanimously elected BJP Legislature party leader and his name was proposed by ousted Rupani. 

Patel won the 2017 Gujarat assembly polls from Ghatlodia constituency, defeating Congress candidate Shashikant Patel. Behind the surprise pick was the party's agenda of building leadership through the new entrants. According to a news agency, a BJP leader in the know has said that the last few Chief Ministers picked by the BJP had displayed that the party doesn't go by established reputations but to develop a new pack of leadership in the states. It was vividly seen in picking lesser-known Pushkar Singh Dhami as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand recently. 

By upholding this agenda, BJP aims to win the hearts of growing leaders and to ensure that such elevations of new faces would pour in more support to the party from their communities. In Gujarat, the Patidar community enjoys a massive voter base and in the albeit of having less prominence in the state's political ecosystem, Bhupendra Patel has built a strong base in the Patidar community. So, for BJP, his pick would have a significant return in the polls. His pick has also revealed how former Chief Minister Anandiben Patel still has an admirable base in Gujarat even after leaving the state as the Governor - then for Madhya Pradesh and now for Uttar Pradesh. 

Being an engineer by profession, Bhupendra Patel has been observing close ties with Anandiben Patel and this has been touted as one of the factors behind Bhupendra Patel's elevation. Adding to that, the incoming Chief Minister has contested from Ghatlodia - the seat vacated by Anandiben Patel in 2017. Bhupendra Patel had won the elections by a record margin of 1,17,000 votes, the largest for any constituency in Gujarat for the BJP in the 2017 polls. All these ingredients were behind the recipe of the Chief Minister that has been presented to Patel. With the blessings of the Central leadership, Bhupendra Patel will be sworn in as the Chief Minister on Monday at around 2.20 pm. 

It has been reported that only Patel will take the oath on Monday and his cabinet will be formed sooner. On Sunday, Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvat tweeted, "The new leader of BJP's Legislature Party Bhupendrabhai Patel presented a proposal to form the government under his leadership. Accepting the proposal, he was invited to take oath as CM on September 13 at 2.20 pm." A BJP spokesperson said that Prime Minister Modi has spoken to Patel over the phone and congratulated him and Union Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Patel. Amit Shah tweeted, "I believe that under the guidance of Narendra Modi, the state's sustainable development will keep up its momentum."