Anandiben Patel resigns from post of Gujrat CM; BJP to study sentiments in state before deciding successor

Ahmedabad, August 2: Fraught with infighting in the party and a growing resentment on the ground, Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, on Monday, offered to resign. Citing age as her reason, she requested the BJP to select a new face to lead the State before the upcoming polls in January 2017. Ms Anandiben Patel turns 75 this November.

Her decision comes at a time when the party’s dominance in the State appears to be under strain, in the months leading up to the Assembly elections. Pounded by two heavy agitations; one by the Patidar community which is a politically dominant community in Gujarat and another, by the Dalit community fuelled by the Una episode, Ms Patel held little sway as the leader who could take the BJP to victory in 2017.

The national BJP parliamentary board headed by party president Amit Shah will hold a meeting in Delhi on Tuesday, in which Ms Patel’s resignation will be formally accepted.  Sources have said that the party will take a call on the potential successor in a day or two’s time after studying the sentiments in the state.

Potential successors to the Chief Ministerial post include Nithin Patel, Vijay Rupani and Parshottam Rupala.

Nithin Patel, an industrialist who enjoys the support of notable RSS leaders as well as PM Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, was the one deputed by the party to handle the Patidar agitation. He headed the panel of seven ministers who examined the demand for quota by the community.

Parsottam Rupala, the national BJP vice-president, belonging to the Kadva Patel community of Saurashtra, is known to be an admired orator and was already a formidable leader within the BJP even when Amit Shah was just a junior minister during the Modi government.

Vijay Rupani, belongs to the Jain community, and has proved to be a deft administrator, while also being close to the Sangh. Rupani, who became a minister in the Anandiben government, is known for his ability to handle political crisis from all fronts.

Ms. Patel, known for her efficiency in administration lacked political shrewdness. She had been facing the heat for sometime thanks to the infighting within the party and leaders within the party had been trying to “destabilise and dislodge” her.

When Ms Patel completed two years in office, the media was abuzz with speculation that she may be soon removed and consequently several names were floated as her replacement.  Her image took a beating with the episode and people from the State were reportedly sent to brief the RSS leadership and PM on the rumoured interference by her family members in the functioning of the government.

PM Modi who took cognizance of the issue had even asked Anandiben, his successor and protégé, to dispel the perception and rectify the image.