Anandiben's resignation an attempt to divert attention from Dalit agitation: Shankar Singh Vaghela

Terming Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel's resignation as a 'conspiracy' to divert attention from the ongoing Dalit agitation in the state, Congress leader and former state chief minister Shankar Singh Vaghela on Tuesday said the whole episode is a drama to gain sympathy.

"This all is being done to divert the attention from the ongoing Dalit agitation in the state. All of it is a conspiracy. If she wants to resign, how far is the Governor's residence? She can go and file her resignation. Who is stopping her from doing so? All of it is a drama to gain sympathy," Vaghela told ANI.

Patel had yesterday submitted her resignation to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) top brass asserting that the saffron party needs a fresh face in the state.

Patel, who took charge as Gujarat's first woman chief minister after Narendra Modi took charge as the Prime Minister, citing age issues had in her Facebook post earlier urged the BJP to relieve her from the coveted post.

Patel said that she had two months earlier sought to resign from the party to give "enough time to the new incumbent to prepare for important events like the upcoming 'Vibrant Gujarat Summit'.

Her government was criticised for its handling of the outrage created by the public flogging of four Dalit men by self-styled cow protection groups.