Jagdish Vishwakarma, a serving Minister and prominent OBC leader in Gujarat, is set to become the next President of the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), after being the only candidate to submit nomination papers for the post on Friday.
Although the formal announcement is scheduled for Saturday morning at the BJP headquarters in Gandhinagar, the party has already declared Vishwakarma "President-elect" as no other nominations were received.
State BJP spokesperson and media coordinator Yagnesh Dave confirmed the development: "Vishwakarma is Gujarat BJP's President-elect. A formal announcement of the election and ceremony for taking charge will be held at 10 am on Saturday in Gandhinagar in the presence of senior party leaders and Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel."
Vishwakarma, 52, is a three-time Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the Nikol constituency in Ahmedabad. He currently holds the portfolio of Minister of State for co-operation, salt industries, MSME, cottage, khadi, and rural industries.
Vishwakarma, who earlier served as the head of the saffron party's Ahmedabad city unit, will take over from CR Paatil, the Union Jal Shakti Minister and Lok Sabha MP for Navsari, whose three-year tenure concluded in July 2023.
The BJP had issued the notification for the election on Thursday, setting a deadline of 2 pm on Friday for interested candidates to file their nomination papers at the state headquarters. Although the schedule included a provision for voting on 4 October should multiple candidates have entered the race, Vishwakarma's singular nomination means the position is secured.
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