- Rupani meets Governor and submits resignation
- Modi, Amit Shah to decide on future course
Prime Minister Narendra Modi appears to have decided to go for course correction in his home state, Gujarat. Vijay Rupani, the Gujarat Chief Minister, had today submitted his resignation. In order to “further develop the state with new energy and power, I have decided to resign as Chief Minister,” said Rupani. 65-year old Rupani took oath for the second term in December 2017 in a grand manner in the presence of Modi, Shah and many BJP chief ministers. BJP won 99 seats out of 182 Assembly seats in 2017 elections. The Congress won 77 seats. Elections are due in December 2022, 15 months away.
Rupani had met Governor Acharya Devvrat at the Raj Bhavan on Saturday morning and submitted his resignation. Speaking to newsmen, the outgoing chief minister said, “The journey of development should proceed under the leadership of the prime minister with new enthusiasm and new energy. Keeping this in mind I am resigning from the chief minister’s post.”
Rupani said BJP as a political party decides its line as per the requirements. “It is a speciality of our party that every worker delivers to the fullest, and I too will continue to work for the party with the same energy,” he said. It is to be seen if Modi and Amit Shah would decide to select someone to replace Rupani as Chief Minister or go for early election under the leadership of Rupani or go for a stint of president’s rule. Senior BJP leaders who have been dealing with the Gujarat BJP affairs BL Santosh and Bhupendra Yadav are in Ahmedabad. If early elections are opted for, the guesswork about Modi’s popularity would be put to test.
In Karnataka and Uttarakhand, the chief ministers were asked to step down. They were replaced by other leaders. In fact, Uttarakhand’s first choice was not congenial and the central leadership had to change the arrangement there for the second time in six months. It is understood that the BJP’s central leadership (read Modi and Shah) was not very happy with Rupani’s performance. His handling of Covid crisis attracted a lot criticism. As elections are due next year, the party leadership wants to make changes in the state level arrangement or go for an early mandate.
All the BJP MLAs have been asked to reach Gandhinagar at the earliest. The legislature party meeting may be held on Saturday evening or Sunday. Gujarat BJP president CRPatil and former home minister of Gujarat, Gordhan Zadafia, are being considered by the party leadership for the top position in Gujarat.
