Jagdish Vishwakarma set to become next Gujarat BJP chief

Gandhinagar: Gujarat minister Jagdish Vishwakarma (Panchal) is all set to become the twelfth president of the state unit of BJP.

Vishwakarma, 52, is being elected unopposed as he was the lone candidate to file nomination for the post on Friday. Vishwakarma, a three time MLA from Nikol in Ahmedabad, belongs to the OBC community. He is known to be close to Union home minister Amit Shah.

The election of the new president comes at a crucial time as internal feuds are surfacing in the party unit and the state is set for panchayat election early next year, which is considered to be a barometer for the assembly polls. Interestingly, it is for the first time that the party is seeing significant consolidation of power in Ahmedabad as both CM Bhupendra Patel and Vishwakarma are legislators from the city.

Observers believe that the forthcoming cabinet expansion will address the regional concerns with adequate regional representations. BJP will now first go into panchayat election under his leadership and later in assembly elections in the second half of 2027.