Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani resigns, says change of guard natural in BJP

Rupani says he is ready to work in any capacity that BJP deems fit for him

In a sudden and unexpected move, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani resigned from the post on Saturday. The move comes at time when the state assembly polls are due in December 2022

In a statement after submitting his resignation to the Gujarat Governor, Acharya Devvrat in Gandhinagar, Rupani said, "I believe that Gujarat's development journey needs to be led under the new energy and enthusiasm with the guidance from the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Considering this, I have resigned from the post of Chief Minister of Gujarat."

Expressing gratitude to the party for giving a worker like him a chance to serve as the chief minister of Gujarat, Rupani, 65, stated that he was willing to fulfill "whatever responsibility" he would be given "under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the national party chief".

Talking about BJP's tradition where the responsibility given to workers keeps changing, Rupani said that all party workers fulfill whatever responsibility they get with utmost devotion. "After stepping down as Chief Minister, I have expressed to work for the party," Rupani further stated.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called for a meeting with all members of legislative assembly (MLAs) even as Rupani's cabinet colleagues including deputy chief minister Nitin Patel, Bhupendrasinh Chudasama and Pradeepsinh Jadeja too handed their resignations to the governor.

Taking over from Anandiben Patel who had resigned mid-term in August 2016, Rupani was one of the first chief ministers of Gujarat after Narendra Modi to have completed five years in office recently. Rupani had led his party to victory with a majority of 99 seats in the 182-seats assembly in December 2017.

Rupani's resignation comes at a time when the ruling party had ruled out rumours about a change of face in the upcoming assembly polls. Moreover, speculations of a rift with state party chief C R Paatil had been denied.

While senior party leaders are staying mum over the development, union home minister Amit Shah is likely to fly down to Gujarat even as BJP leadership looks to announce the next chief minister of Gujarat.

After the likes of Uttarakhand's Tirath Singh Rawat and Karnataka's B S Yediyurappa, Gujarat is the latest BJP-ruled state to see the chief minister being replaced in recent months.