MUMBAI: In an unexpected development, Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani resigned on Saturday, September 11, 2021, saying a new leadership would take the state to new heights of development and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his support.
Flanked by union minister Bhupendra Yadav and deputy CM Nitin Patel, Rupani announced his resignation and said he was “ready to serve in whichever role the party assigns to me. During my tenure, I got the opportunity to add to the development of the state under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership.”
Rupani’s exit is the third change the BJP has effected at the helm in as many months. Before him the saffron party changed the CMs of Karnataka and Uttarakhand.
With just over a year left for the elections in Gujarat, Rupani’s sacking is being seen as an attempt at course correction. The outgoing CM’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic’s second wave was widely criticized and many party cadres are also said to be unhappy with him, leading to an internal dispute between state BJP president C.R. Patil and him.
Patil is said to have tightened his grip over the party following a creditable performance at the block panchayat and local body elections in March. The BJP won 31 district panchayats, 71 municipalities out of 81 and 231 taluka panchayats despite a negative image of the government. The party also won 6,110 out of the 8,474 seats in the local body elections, establishing Patil leadership at the organisational level.
Sources said Patil told the party leadership in Delhi recently that the party should not fight the 2022 state polls under Rupani as the crucial Patidar base was eroding and that the CM was meek. The BJP legislature party is expected to meet on Sunday to elect a new leader. There are several names making the round as possible replacements for Rupani, among them is Patil, Nitin Patel and union minister Parshottam Rupala.