Former Surat collector appointed BJP’s state unit vice-president

Gujarat BJP president C R Paatil Tuesday made nine more appointments in the party’s organisation. Significant among the appointments are Mahendra Patel, a retired Gujarat-cadre IAS officer, as vice-president, and Yamal Vyas as party’s chief spokesperson.

A 2003-batch IAS officer, Patel is also a former collector of Surat district who has also been appointed as executive director of the Metro Rail Project in Surat. During Covid-19 pandemic, he was appointed as an officer on special duty and was made the in-charge of Covid-19 related activity in Surat district. He also held the post of commissioner of municipalities administration in Gandhinagar.

Vyas, a veteran party worker, is a chartered accountant by profession. Before the crucial 2017 state assembly elections, Vyas was one of the spokespersons of the party. He has replaced former Dhandhuka MLA Bharat Pandya as the party’s chief spokesperson.

Former MLA from Jasdan Bharat Boghra has been appointed as vice-president, and Jayshreeben Desai has been appointed as secretary in the new organisation. Yagnesh Dave has been appointed as media convener while replacing Prashant Vala. Kishor Makwana has been appointed as co-convener of the media cell. Known as a biographer of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Makwana is also a member of Nehru Memorial Museum & Library and board of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University.

Nikhil Patel has been made convener of the IT Cell. Social media cell of the party will be handled by Siddharth Patel as convener and Manan Dani as co-convener.