Hours after Bhupendra Patel took the baton from Vijay Rupani on Sunday, the new chief minister’s wife Hetal said she has handed over her husband to Gujarat to serve the state and the nation. Patel, who is more popular as ‘Dada’ in his close circle, is an MLA from Ghatlodiya in Ahmedabad. In a surprise move, BJP picked him as the successor to Rupani, who resigned from the top post on Saturday. Patel’s family members and friends burst firecrackers and distributed sweets at his home and office to celebrate the news.

Hetal told mid-day, “We are too happy that with he is now the chief minister of Gujarat. Till he left home, we didn’t have an inkling that he would become the CM. In the afternoon, I learnt about it when I watched the news. It was a big surprise for us. The party trusted him and we are sure that he will help the people.” An elated Hetal, fondly called Hetalben by family members, continued, “Until now, he was handling our home well. Now, I’m sure he will handle the state with equal zeal. He is very passionate about work and I always felt he would get a big responsibility one day.”