Gujarat’s chief minister quits a year before state assembly elections
STATE BJP LEADER SAYS MOVE NOT A SURPRISE AS RESPONSIBILITIES ALTER
The new Chief Minister of Gujarat will be nominated after the meeting of the party MLAs, said Vajubhai Vala, former Governor of Karnakata and senior BJP leader from the state.
Vala said Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani’s resignation did not come as a surprise to him as the roles of the workers within the party keep changing. “The resignation of Chief Minister was not a surprise as the people in the party keep meeting and their roles are decided according to the requirement of the party. When Anandiben Patel resigned, then also there was no particular reason for it,” he said.
No name finalised yet
The BJP leader said the party has not decided who will be the new Chief Minister of Gujarat. “No name has been finalised yet. The new Chief Minister will be decided after the meeting of MLAs. That is a parliamentary procedure and the party will follow it,” he said.
Vala said Rupani’s resignation would not affect the party’s performance in the upcoming Assembly elections in Gujarat. “People vote the party on the basis of the work it did. BJP has worked for the people and in the next election, people will elect BJP only,” said the senior leader.
Asked about the reason behind Rupani’s resignation, Vala denied having knowledge about it. “Whatever the party
decides, every worker follows that. Vijay Rupani was Chief Minister for about 2,000 days and neither public nor party workers had any complaints against him. We will follow whatever the party decides. He worked for the party his whole life,” he added.
Rupani thanks Modi
Earlier in the day, Rupani met Governor Acharya Devvrat and submitted his resignation from the post of Gujarat’s Chief Minister. While resigning as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Rupani said the development journey of Gujarat should continue under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s guidance and new leadership. “To further develop the state, with new energy and power, I have decided to resign as Chief Minister,” Rupani said. Rupani’s resignation comes a year before the scheduled Assembly elections in the state. He took charge as the Chief Minister on Aug. 7, 2016.