With the BJP making a surprise pick of first-time MLA Bhupendra Patel as the new chief minister of Gujarat, Deputy CM Nitin Patel on Monday said he was not disappointed for not getting the top post in the state.
Nitin Patel’s name was making rounds among the forerunners to replace Vijay Rupani as the chief minister of Gujarat after the latter resigned in an unexpected move on Saturday.
“I’m not upset (on the party naming Bhupendra Patel as CM). I’ve been working in BJP since I was 18 & will keep on working. Whether I get a position in the party or not, I will continue serving in the party,” Nitin said while addressing media persons in Ahmedabad today.
On Sunday, the deputy CM said that he has seen many ups and downs, and asserted that nobody can “throw him out” as he lives in people’s heart.
Patel, while addressing people during a function in Mehsana town on Sunday evening, also said in a lighter vein that he was not the only one who had missed the bus as there were “many others” like him.
There was speculation that he was unhappy after Bhupendra Patel was chosen as the next chief minister in a meeting of BJP MLAs at the party headquarters ‘Kamalam’ in Gandhinagar on Sunday, a day after Vijay Rupani tendered his resignation from the top post.