Editor's Pick: Placating the Patidars

In a surprising move, Bhupandra Patel was appointed the next Chief Minister of Gujarat after Vijay Rupani resigned from the post on Saturday. His appointment was cleared by the BJP in the Legislature Party meeting on Sunday. Mr. Patel is a first-time legislator and a protegee of former Chief Minister Anandiben Patel. The names of several contenders for the post were doing the rounds, but Mr. Patel's name never cropped up as a possible candidate, writes Mahesh Langa. Mr. Patel has always maintained a low-profile. He is known to be a soft-spoken and mild-mannered man with good experience in civic and urban management. His appointment appears to be a tactical move by the BJP as Mr. Patel is from the dominant Patidar caste, which forms the backbone of the party's support base in Gujarat. The party's first Chief Minister in 1995 was a Patidar — Keshubai Patel — but when Narendra Modi came to power, this "unsettled the cozy relations between the community and the party," says The Hindu editorial today. The Patels have rebelled many times against the Modi-Shah duo over the past few years. The Aam Aadmi Party has elbowed a weak Congress out of the way and occupied the main Opposition position. The BJP therefore had to act. The Congress, meanwhile, continues to struggle with factionalism and leadership tussles in Punjab and Chhattisgarh. It is yet to appoint an in-charge for Gujarat, deemed a 'priority State', after the earlier in-charge passed away due to COVID-19-related complications. "The return of a Patel at the helm indicates a reversal of the BJP strategy of building coalitions of diverse caste groups under a leader from a marginal caste," the editorial says. As this is an important move to placate both a disgruntled community and a people largely dissatisfied with the previous Chief Minister, this is our top story of the day. The Hindu Editorials A Patel at the helm: On change of guard in Gujarat Foreclosure: On Test cricket, IPL and BCCI Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor's Pick and more. Click here Try out The Hindu's daily news quiz How many days does the Nipah virus take to incubate and manifest as disease? 1. 6-21 days 2. 18-25 days 3. 7-14 days 4. 21-30 days To find out the answer and play the full quiz, click here. [logo] Editor's Pick 13 SEPTEMBER 2021 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [Arrow]( [Open in browser]( [Mail icon]( [More newsletters]( Placating the Patidars [Placating the Patidars] In a surprising move, Bhupandra Patel was appointed the next Chief Minister of Gujarat after Vijay Rupani resigned from the post on Saturday. His appointment was cleared by the BJP in the Legislature Party meeting on Sunday. Mr. Patel is a first-time legislator and a protegee of former Chief Minister Anandiben Patel. The names of several contenders for the post were doing the rounds, but [Mr. Patel's name never cropped up as a possible candidate]( writes Mahesh Langa. Mr. Patel has always maintained a low-profile. He is known to be a soft-spoken and mild-mannered man with good experience in civic and urban management. His appointment appears to be a tactical move by the BJP as Mr. Patel is from the dominant Patidar caste, which forms the backbone of the party's support base in Gujarat. The party's first Chief Minister in 1995 was a Patidar — Keshubai Patel — but when Narendra Modi came to power, this "unsettled the cozy relations between the community and the party," says The Hindu [editorial today](. The Patels have rebelled many times against the Modi-Shah duo over the past few years. The Aam Aadmi Party has elbowed a weak Congress out of the way and occupied the main Opposition position. The BJP therefore had to act. The Congress, meanwhile, continues to struggle with factionalism and leadership tussles in Punjab and Chhattisgarh. It is yet to appoint an in-charge for Gujarat, deemed a 'priority State', after the earlier in-charge passed away due to COVID-19-related complications. "The return of a Patel at the helm indicates a reversal of the BJP strategy of building coalitions of diverse caste groups under a leader from a marginal caste," the editorial says. As this is an important move to placate both a disgruntled community and a people largely dissatisfied with the previous Chief Minister, this is our top story of the day. The Hindu Editorials [Arrow][A Patel at the helm: On change of guard in Gujarat]( [Arrow][Foreclosure: On Test cricket, IPL and BCCI]( [underlineimg] Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor's Pick and more. [Click here]( [underlineimg] Try out The Hindu's daily news quiz How many days does the Nipah virus take to incubate and manifest as disease? 1. 6-21 days 2. 18-25 days 3. 7-14 days 4. 21-30 days To find out the answer and play the full quiz, [click here](. 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