Patel, who defeated his rival Bhikhu Patel by 10 votes, said he will contribute to Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s manifesto of increasing infrastructure to promote higher education. While C L Patel, who has been heading the trust for 15 years, got 1, 242 votes, 1, 232 votes were cast for Bhikhu Patel.

While elections for the post of CVM chairman are held after three years, elections to the 20-member council are held after every four years. With several council members retiring, elections for 10 council members were also held on Saturday.

Speaking to Newsline, Patel said: “Projects worth Rs 600 crore are expected to begin in my next three-year tenure. We have already embarked on a Rs 67-crore project. CVM will soon have the fourth engineering college in the campus. The project is in progress and is worth Rs 17 crore.”

He added: “There is no dearth of donors for the Rs 600-crore project, which will continue for the next 15 years. The aim of the trust is to boost Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s manifesto, which demands more schools and colleges.”

The voting for CVM trust management was held on February 28 as per the High Court directive and the counting was held on Sunday in presence of the observer nominated by the High Court.

No one except CL Patel and Bhikhu Patel and other 20 council members of the management were present during the meeting.