New Delhi: Nitin Patel, former deputy chief minister in Vijay Rupani government, has reportedly been upset with party central leadership decision of choosing low key profile politician and first time MLA, Bhupendra Patel, as new Chief Minister. 

Mr. Nitin Patel had the number 2 position in the outgoing Cabinet as expected for the top post. In fact, his name was doing rounds soon after Vijay Rupani resigned to CM post. In an unexpected move, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani resigned on Saturday. Nitin Patel, who belongs to the powerful Patidar community, was the natural choice for the CM post, however, party central leadership has picked another Patel, Bhupendra Patel, for the top post. 

Mr. Nitin Patel later said that he was the only one to miss the bus and there were many other like him miss the opportunity. In a function at Mehsana, Mr. Nitin Patel said that he had seen many ups and downs, and nobody could throw him out as he lived in people’s hearts. 

Further, he said that he has not bothered about speculation. He was happy to see Mr. Bhupendra Patel become the Chief Minister. “He is my friend, but I don’t care what people say or think. But I am not in danger. Because of people’s support, I am here. I only owe to my people”, he said. 

Read: Gujarat CM-elect Bhupendra Patel to take oath today, Amit Shah likely to attend

Soon after BJPLP elected Bhupendra Patel as CM, Mr. Nitin Patel left the meeting early; he has not accompanied Bhupendra Patel and Vijay Rupani to Rajbhavan to stake the claim for the new government. “I left early because I had to attend a preoccupied program; I would have myself given it as pass if it was not of that much importance,” Nitin Patel replied to a question. 

Before the BJPLP meeting, Mr. Nitin Patel desired to become the Chief Minister, and he said that the new Chief Minister had to be "popular, strong, experienced, and the one who is known and acceptable to all," but the party has chosen Bhupendra Patel as dark-horse. 

Later, Mr. Patel said that he will abide by the party decision; he added that the party had taken the right decision in selecting a new CM. 

Read: After Uttarakhand, Karnataka, now Gujarat to elect new CM