AHMEDABAD: With the Gujarat BJP leadership in limbo and cabinet expansion hanging under fire, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has landed in Delhi on August 2 to hold crucial talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
At the heart of the discussions lies the long-delayed appointment of the new state party president, a decision that now appears imminent, with ripple effects expected in the state cabinet soon after.
In a fast-moving political development, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on August 2 reached Delhi, setting the stage for high-level talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi amid growing buzz around the Gujarat BJP president’s appointment and the long-pending cabinet expansion.
The visit comes at a time when the BJP high command is said to have zeroed in on pushing through critical organisational changes that have been hanging in the balance for months.
Barely hours before Patel's arrival in the capital, BJP national president JP Nadda, national general secretary (organization) BL Santosh, and Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav, who is also serving as the Gujarat election observer huddled in a closed-door meeting.
Sources confirm that the trio reached a consensus to fast-track the selection of the next Gujarat BJP president and wrap up the process by early next week.
The stage is being set for a tightly scripted transition. BJP insiders say the leadership change will be symbolic in nature with only one name being greenlit by the party high command, effectively rendering the process uncontested.
Once the central leadership signals the preferred choice, the candidate is expected to file a lone nomination at Kamalam, the party's Gujarat headquarters, and be declared unanimously elected without a formal vote.
Names from Saurashtra and North Gujarat are doing the rounds for the top post, with the party reportedly keen on choosing an OBC leader to consolidate its social coalition.
However, there is also speculation that the high command may go with a younger face to rebrand the Gujarat unit ahead of 2027. If required, a sitting minister may be asked to step down from the cabinet to take over the organisational reins.
The leadership churn doesn’t end there!
Cabinet expansion, which has remained on hold for several months, is expected to follow after the president’s appointment. Sources say Bhupendra Patel is awaiting the new president’s installation before finalizing the cabinet shuffle, a move likely to reflect the internal balance of power between different factions in the party.
The biggest question now: will CR Patil’s loyalists, who dominated the previous phase, retain influence in the new power structure? Or will the cabinet reshuffle signal a generational or regional shift?
Either way, Gujarat BJP appears poised for a political reset, with Delhi pulling the strings and Kamalam awaiting the signal.
