Newly elected Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel arrived at the governor’s house in Gandhinagar on Sunday evening to meet Acharya Devvrat at Raj Bhavan.

Visuals of Bhupendra Patel reaching the governor’s house were shared online by various media outlets, showing Patel and Devvrat meeting each other at the latter’s residence.

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Considered a close aide of former Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel, Bhupendra Patel was internally elected as the new CM a day after Vijay Rupani handed in his resignation abruptly.

Patel’s election came as a surprise to many across the media and political spectrum since others like the BJP’s Nitin Patel and C R Paatil were being pitched as top contenders.

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For Patel’s name to have suddenly been picked meant the political pundits were left scratching their beards.

Bhupendra Patel’s 2017 win is considered the highest winning margin of the year where he thumped Shashikant Patel of the Indian National Congress.

Also Read: Why Vijay Rupani resigned as Gujarat Chief Minister

Patel holds a diploma degree in civil engineering and is an MLA from the Ghatlodiya seat, while also a former chairman of a standing committe of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and a member of the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority.

Also Read | Who is Nitin Patel?

Patel was named at a meeting of state BJP legislators on Sunday afternoon in the presence of central observers Narendra Singh Tomar and Prahlad Joshi and party general secretary Tarun Chang.

Bhupender Patel is also the trustee at Patidar organizations Sardar Dham and Vishwa Umiya Foundation. He has served as the president of Memnagagar Nagarpalika in 1999-2000, vice-chairman of School Board of AMC in 2008-10 and councillor from Thaltej ward in 2010-15.