BackNitin Patel takes charge as Gujarat deputy CM, gets finance portfolio
Gujarat deputy chief minister Nitin Patel took charge on Sunday after BJP national president Amit Shah agreed to give him the finance portfolio
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Ahmedabad: Gujarat deputy chief minister Nitin Patel took charge on Sunday after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president Amit Shah agreed to Patel’s demand that an important portfolio be alloted to him.
According to a state government statement, Patel was given the finance portfolio that had been earlier allotted to Saurabh Patel. It was not immediately known if Saurabh Patel, who also has the energy portfolio, would be given any additional department.
“My demand was not for any position or portfolio, for that is for the party to decide. I had communicated to the party earlier and even during the Cabinet meeting that being a deputy CM I should be given appropriate portfolios. I had even expressed before the party leaders that I should not be named as deputy CM if I don’t get proper portfolios," Nitin Patel said on Sunday.
Nitin Patel, who was also the deputy chief minister in the earlier government led by chief minister Vijay Rupani, had handled key portfolios like petrochemicals, urban development and finance. All three portfolios were taken away from him after the BJP won a sixth straight term in Gujarat in recent elections.
As a result, Nitin Patel, who was sworn in as the deputy CM on 26 December, did not take charge of his office until Sunday. In the new government, he was allotted the roads and buildings, health and medical education, capital project and Narmada departments.
Nitin Patel had made his displeasure known ahead of the first Cabinet meeting on 28 December to chief minister Vijay Rupani when portfolios were being decided.
Congress and Patidar community leaders had on Saturday issued statements to support Patel’s rebellious posturing.
Sardar Patel Group (SPG) convener Lalji Patel on Sunday called for a shutdown in the deputy chief minister’s constituency of Mahesana on 1 January as a mark of protest against the ‘injustice’ meted out to the Patidar leader by the ruling party. The SPG and Hardik Patel-led Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) had jointly spearheaded a campaign for reservations in government jobs and college admissions for members of the Patidar community before parting ways.
Patidar quota agitation leader Hardik Patel had urged the deputy CM to break away from the BJP with 10 members of the legislative assembly (MLAs) and join the Congress.
The deputy CM rubbished talks about him rebelling against the BJP.
“I have been with BJP for 40 years and I have always worked in interests of the party," he said.
Nitin Patel has been associated with the BJP since its formation in 1980.
A six-time MLA, Patel was first elected to the assembly from Kadi in 1990. He has lost an assembly election only once, in 2002.
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