GANDHINAGAR: It was indeed a tough test for
Vijay Rupani (61). The chief minister, however, staved off brilliantly the anti-incumbency factor and the challenge posed by a belligerent Congress party in the 2017 assembly polls and ultimately ensured a sixth term for the
BJP in the state. On Friday, the party rightly gave Rupani one more innings as the CM. In August 2016, Rupani was appointed as the chief minister of
Gujarat after the first woman CM of the state, Anandiben Patel, stepped down.
Though the party had not disclosed its CM candidate during the assembly polls, several factors went in favour of Rupani whose name was announced by Union finance minister Arun Jaitley and the party's national general secretary Saroj Pandey at a meeting in the city on Friday. Rupani had won in the recent elections by a margin of around 54,000 votes from the Rajkot West constituency. According to political observers, Rupani's continuation as the chief minister was never in doubt because of several factors.
Caste neutral: Rupani comes from the Jain community (a minority community) which has a caste neutral identity. "Picking a Patel, Thakor or Koli leader could have antagonized other castes which the party wanted to avoid at any cost," said a political observer.
Foot solider: Rupani, who worked for more than 30 years in the BJP — from a worker to the state president — contested assembly polls in 2014 and became the CM in his first term. From Dang to Kutch and from Saurashtra to North Gujarat, Rupani has network of party workers which very few leaders have.
RSS roots: Rupani, who worked as an RSS pracharak for years, has maintained his strong RSS identity even today. He doesn't shy away from wearing khaki RSS shorts (now pants) and attends RSS events. Rupani also served in the BJP's earlier version Jan Sangh.
Vijay Rupani.
