Chief Minister of Gujarat Vijay Rupani resigned from his post on Saturday. It is not clear what prompted the development in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state where elections to the 182-member Assembly are due in December next year.
Vijay Rupani was sworn in as chief minister in his second stint as CM in December 2017. “I have resigned as chief minister of Gujarat,” the CM said after meeting Governor Acharya Devvrat and submitting his resignation letter. “I was allowed to serve the state for five years. I have contributed to the development of the state. I will further do whatever is asked by my party,” he said.
Many reasons being proffered are that the party doesn’t want to fight the forthcoming assembly polls in 2022 under his leadership following his alleged abysmal failure to handle the second wave of Corona, unimpressive running of the administration or even differences with the state BJP chief C R Paatil.
The saffron party feared anti-incumbency for the Rupani government could thwart its chances this time and stall its stupendous winning spree that began in 1995. Insiders said the party arrived at the decision after a discreet ground survey conducted following the Jan Samvedana Yatra across the state, where the leaders got a cold response from people.
The BJP felt that going into the assembly elections under Rupani could be very risky, particularly in the light of the scare it got during the 2017 elections when its performance saw a dip and yielded just 97 seats.
The thin majority it got from that poll result made it difficult for the party to ensure comprehensive wins for its leaders in the Rajya Sabha polls.
BJP leaders say the 2019 Lok Sabha elections were exceptional, where it won all the seats. But that was fought with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the face. In all the elections since then the party did not get the desired results.
To correct that, the new state president C R Paatil has set a target of winning all 182 seats, if possible.
Another reason was that the BJP had to bring some Congress leaders into its fold after the lukewarm response in the 2017 assembly polls and losing ground in Saurashtra, which has played a key role in the party’s victories.
If sources are to be believed, the second wave of Corona has seriously hurt the state government’s image among people. The crisis of non-availability of beds, oxygen and Remdesivir injections, apart from the long queues of ambulances waiting outside Civil hospital have had a haunting effect and left a negative impression of the state administration.
The survey conducted by the party concluded with the fact that people are not satisfied with the handling of the Corona crisis. Complaints abounded about elected representatives, whether municipal councilors or MLAs, not living up to expectations of the masses when they needed help desperately during the pandemic.
A large number of people were affected by Covid in the rural areas. The party high command took note that CM Rupani did not have sufficient control over bureaucrats to run the administration smoothly.