Rupani resigns as CM ahead of polls next yr
GANDHINAGAR/NEW DELHI: Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani resigned from the post on Saturday, an announcement that came a little over a year before the assembly elections in the state that is ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
While it was not immediately clear what led to the move, with Saturday’s sudden change of the guard, Gujarat joined a list of states where the central BJP brass opted to change the leadership ahead of assembly elections. After Karnataka, where chief minister BS Yeddiyurappa was replaced by Basavaraj Bommai ahead of the 2023 elections, and Uttarakhand, where the incumbent Trivendra Singh Rawat was first replaced by Tirath Singh and later by Pushkar Dhami, Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani on Saturday announced his resignation. Both Gujarat and Uttarakhand will pick new assemblies in 2022.
BJP’S general secretary (organisation) BL Santosh and Gujarat state unit incharge Bhupender Yadav met party functionaries soon after Rupani announced his resignation.
Rupani and state cabinet colleagues met the governor and submitted their resignations.
Rupani, who tendered his resignation to Governor Acharya Devvrat in the afternoon, told reporters: “I am a loyal soldier of the BJP and have resigned of my own accord; nobody asked me to
VIJAY RUPANI
In BJP, it is like a relay race for party workers. One gives the baton to the other.
do so. I will work for the party organisation or whatever role the party leadership assigns me.” Amid speculation of infighting, he denied he had any differences with state BJP president CR Paatil.
Asked about the reason for his resignation, Rupani said: “In BJP, it is like a relay race for party workers. One gives the baton to the other.” A person aware of the matter said Rupani’s successor will be discussed at a legislature party meeting likely to be held on Sunday.
Among the names that are likely to be considered for the next CM is Lakshadweep and Daman and Diu administrator Praful Patel. The others are state general secretary Gordhan Jhadaphia, a Patidar leader, and Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya, said a senior BJP functionary, asking not to be named.
Among the reasons cited by party leaders, who asked not to be named, for the 65-year-old’s exit were his response to the Covid-19 pandemic and his caste. The Jain CM’S performance in facing the challenges posed by the pandemic and failure to build cohesive political support for the BJP which still faces challenges from the Patidars, a community with immense political heft that can swing electoral outcomes, were stated as key determinants in the decision, according to the leaders.
A change of face a little over a year ahead of the elections is expected to blunt anti-incumbency in the state. The term of the 182-member assembly ends in February 2023.
A senior party leader based in Delhi said the change should not be attributed to Rupani’s performance but is part of the BJP’S policy of fostering newer leadership. “The BJP believes in leadership development process whereby newer people are given a chance to be in charge. In Gujarat that is what has happened… it’s a generational change. New leaders will take over the charge with enthusiasm,” said the functionary.
However, there is a section of party leaders that said the resignation is an indication that the central command is not inclined to go to the polls with incumbent leaders in states where the public perception is not in their favour.
“Even though the chief minister carried forward the development agenda that was set by Prime Minister Modi when he was the chief minister of the state, there were many issues that could be attributed for this change. The first and foremost being the state’s response to the Covid challenge,” said second leader. He went on to add: “…Since he also did not meet the criterion that was arrived at after doing the electoral calculations the party decided that he should to replaced and a new person given the charge till the election.”
The central leadership that included Santhosh and Yadav held a series of meetings with the state party leaders in the past few months to get an insight into the public sentiment against the CM.
In April this year, the high court of Gujarat took a serious view of the state’s preparedness for the pandemic and said the manner in which the government had dealt with the challenge was “not satisfactory and not transparent”. There was an uproar over the lack of oxygen supply in hospitals; beds were also in short supply.
Rupani, a non-patidar leader, replaced Anandiben Patel in 2016 in the aftermath of the agitation by the politically powerful Patidar community that was rallying for being brought under the ambit of reservation. He was sworn in for a second term after the party won the 2017 assembly elections even though there were reservations among state leaders on his elevation.
The party has been concerned over the state unit leaders losing hold over the electorate. In 2017 when the party returned to power it won just 99 of the 182 seats, down from the previous election’s 115.
Later, the Aam Aadmi Party’s performance in the Surat municipal corporation rang the alarm bells again. The party has officially dismissed the AAP’S emergence in the state, but it is aware of the simmering discontent among the Patidars over the delay in taking back cases that were filed against those booked in the 2015 agitation, said a third leader.
Political commentator Ghanshaym Shah said there was pressure from party cadres and the Patidar community to change the chief minister. “The party cadres had relayed to the central leadership the need to have the Patidars on their side, so the change can be attributed to this pressure,” he said.