BJP state president of Gujarat and the state’s Cabinet Minister Vijay Rupani is likely to take oath as Gujarat Chief Minister on coming Friday, sources said. According to sources, the top leadership of Bharatiya Janata Party took the decision in the BJP Parliamentary Board meeting on Wednesday morning.
The panel convened after 9 am and the members agreed to accept Patel’s resignation. Rupani emerged as the CM frontrunner at the meeting.
BJP top brass like Venkaiah Naidu, Amit Shah, Gujarat’s representative in the Parliament Arun Jaitley, Thavar Chand Gehlot and JP Nadda assembled at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 7 Race Course residence on Wednesday morning.
Even though, Gujarat’s Health Minister Nitin Patel, Finance Minister Saurabh Patel and many more names emerged for the chief ministerial post, but Rupani appeared to be the most trusted, sources said. Rupani, reportedly enjoys the confidence of PM Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah and hence emerged as the best person to steady BJP’s rocking boat in Gujarat.
Rupani is also the only minister in the present Cabinet who was jailed during the Emergency and has been close to all BJP CMs of the state, including Keshubhai Patel. Speculation was rife that BJP President Amit Shah would be next in line to take up the CM post, but Union Minister and member of the party’s Parliamentary Board M Venkaiah Naidu squashed the buzz and said, “No question of Amit Shah ji. Party wants him to lead us in national politics.”
“The next Gujarat chief minister will be from the state,” Naidu added. BJP leaders Nitin Gadkari and Saroj Pandey will be appointed as observers, who will go to Gujarat and hold meetings to decide the next CM.
The party president Amit Shah is also reaching Gujarat in the next two days to decide on Patel’s successor.
Gujarat is poll- bound next year, and the growing Dalit and Patidar angst in the state have put BJP on the backfoot in the state. Anandiben’s inability to stem the growing resentment against the party had upset both the PM and party president. Anandiben and Shah didn’t share an amiable equation, party sources said.