BJP heavyweight and deputy chief minister of Gujarat, Nitin Patel is trailing from his Mahesana constituency. Last year, during the frenzy caused by the resignation of then Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel following a massive agitation by the Patidar community, Nitin Patel was largely touted to take the chief minister’s chair. However, Prime Minister Modi and BJP president Amit Shah had sprung a surprise by naming Vijay Rupani – a Jain – as Anandiben’s successor while Nitin Patel was named as the deputy. Mahesana was one of the Patel/Patidar dominated constituencies of the state where the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti and its leader Hardik Patel had campaigned extensively and sought to overthrow the BJP.