Bhupendrabhai Patel

Bhupendra Rajnikant Patel (born 15 July 1962) is an Indian politician and civil engineer who is serving as the 17th and current Chief Minister of Gujarat since 2021. He represents the Ghatlodia Assembly constituency in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly since 2017. He is a member of(BJP) He started his political career in municipal bodies of Ahmedabad.

Early life
Bhupendrabhai Patel was born on 15 July 1962 to Gujarati parents in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. Bhupendrabhai Patel has received Diploma in Civil Engineering from the Government Polytechnic, Ahmedabad in April 1982. He has been associated with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Early Career
He is a builder by profession. He is a trustee of Sardardham Vishwa Patidar Kendra and a chairman of the standing committee of Vishwa Umiya Foundation. He is a follower of Akram Vignan Movement founded by Dada Bhagwan. He is interested in cricket and badminton.

Municipal Councillor
Patel was the member of Memnagar Nagarpalika in 1995–1996, 1999-2000 and 2004–2006. He was the President of Memnagar Nagarpalika in 1999–2000. He was a Vice Chairman of school board of Amdavad Municipal Corporation (AMC) from 2008 to 2010. He was a councillor from Thaltej Ward from 2010 to 2015. He was a chairman of the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA) from 2015 to 2017. He also served as a chairman of the Standing Committee of AMC.

Member of Gujarat Legislative Assembly
Patel became a member of Gujarat Legislative Assembly for the Ghatlodia constituency after winning the 2017 Gujarat Legislative Assembly elections, running against Shashikant Patel of the Indian National Congress. He won by a record margin of 1,17,000 votes.

He was elected again from Ghotlodia constituency in 2022 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election as a BJP candidate defeating his nearest rival and Indian National Congress candidate Amiben Yagnik.

First Term (2021 - 2022)
On 11 September 2021, Vijay Rupani resigned from the post of Chief Minister of Gujarat. Patel was unanimously elected as the BJP legislative party leader and Chief Minister elect of Gujarat on 12 September 2021 in the party legislature meeting at Gandhinagar. He was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Gujarat on 13 September 2021.

On 8 February 2022, he launched a new Gujarat IT/ITeS policy 2022-2027. His government also became the first state to set up a committee to study modalities and implementation of Uniform Civil Code in the state, applying the same to the citizens of the state.

Second Term (2022 - present)
In the 2022 Gujarat Legislative Assembly Elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party won a record-breaking 156 of the total 182 seats, with the party forming the state government for the 7th consecutive time. On 12 December 2022, Patel took oath as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, for the second time with this massive win.