New CM Bhupendra Patel has a double advantage as he leads Gujarat

Bhupendra Patel, however, has a double advantage which should act as a protective cover around him

Few in Gujarat have heard of Bhupendra Patel. That’s his greatest strength. “His value lies in the fact that no one knows him," an experienced observer of Gujarat politics remarked.

As high flyers and heavyweights in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Gujarat found themselves wringing their hands, a relative non-entity — a first-time MLA who has no experience of running a government department — pipped them to the post of chief minister. Reports filtering out from the legislature party meeting suggest that when he was informed he was chosen CM of one of India’s wealthiest states and was asked