Getting poll-ready: BJP chooses to play the 'Patidar' card in Gujarat

The state's economy has been suffering blow upon blow, especially in the last one and a half years of the pandemic

True to its nature of springing surprises across states, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday named first-time MLA Bhupendra Rajnikant Patel chief minister of Gujarat. A day after Vijay Rupani unexpectedly resigned as chief minister without citing reasons, the ruling party went with its strategy of naming lesser-known party workers to helm state politics.

With Bhupendra Patel, a Kadva Patidar legislator from Ghatlodia in Ahmedabad and a close aide of former chief minister Anandiben Patel, the BJP has chosen to play the “Patidar” card even as it might look to appease communities like tribals and other backward classes (OBCs) through