 "Vijay Rupani")
A lack of consensus among party legislators over Nitin Patel's candidature led to a last minute decision of choosing Rupani, which was made public by union minister Nitin Gadkari and BJP national president Amit Shah after the meeting.
Ironically, Rupani, who just turned 61 on August 2, had withdrawn himself from the race for the new CM on Thursday. The move not only hints at a stamp of approval from BJP national president Amit Shah but is also seen as the party's masterstroke to field a 'neutral' community candidate in Rupani, who is a Jain Baniya.
The meeting between Shah and party leaders as well as MLAs which was supposed to end soon with announcement of Nitin Patel, the strongest contender, as CM went on for almost two hours leading to a lack of consensus. Post meeting, while Nitin Patel tried hard not to appear visibly upset, the outgoing CM Anandiben Patel seemed miffed with the decision. Political circles claim she had strong reservations against Rupani, who is considered close to Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On Monday, August 1, Anandiben Patel had offered to step down through a social media post.
Apart from Shah, Gadkari, Anandiben Patel, Nitin Patel and Rupani, other senior party leaders including Purshottam Rupala and Saroj Pandey were present at Kamalam.
Swearing in ceremony of the new chief minister and his cabinet is likely to be held on Saturday, August 6.
BJP's approach this time in selecting a successor to Anandiben is in stark contrast to how Narendra Modi's successor was selected in 2014. After winning the Lok Sabha elections, Modi had chosen Anandiben as his successor at a parliamentary board meeting of the BJP. While it is said that Anandiben was chosen by unanimous voting, it is widely known that she was Modi's choice, and a consultative approach was hardly followed.
Apart from Rupani withdrawing himself earlier, union minister Venkaiah Naidu had ruled out Shah's name as a Gujarat CM probable. There was also the buzz of BJP considering the post of a deputy chief minister in order to come across as a balanced party and government. Hence, as non-controversial figure Rupani could help BJP reach out to non-Patidar communities as well as middle and lower classes. His 'clean image' could also be an effective counter to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)'s corruption plank.
Friday, however, also saw Dalit community members setting off on a padyatra (foot rally) from Ahmedabad which will end on August 15 when they reach Una, as a mark of protest against atrocities to the community.
Citing her upcoming 75th birthday on November 21, Anandiben Patel had offered to step down as the chief minister while welcoming her party's call for members to voluntarily step down after attaining the said age.
"Since sometime senior partyworkers have voluntarily stepped down after attaining the age of 75 years to make way for the next generation in the party, which is exemplary for all. Even I would be completing 75 years in November. However, 2017 will see state assembly elections being held in Gujarat in December as well as the biennial Vibrant Gujarat Summit in January. In order to provide ample time for the new chief minister for these events, through this letter, I humbly request the senior party leadership to relieve me from the responsibility two months in advance," Patel said in a post published on her Facebook and Twitter page in Gujarati.
's appointment as the new chief minister comes at a time when the BJP-led Gujarat government is reeling under unrest from different communities such as the Patidars and Dalits since almost an year. Apparently, the recent uprising among the Dalits to protest against the public thrashing of four Dalit youths in Una over alleged cow killing by some so-called 'cow protectors' had left the state administration embarrassed.
Moreover, Thursday also saw a major setback to the BJP-led Gujarat government with the Gujarat High Court (HC) quashing the government's decision to offer 10 per cent additional quota for economically backward classes (EBC) in government jobs and educational institutions. In addition, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati on Thursday demanded steps against perpetrators in the Una Dalit youth thrashing case during her visit in Gujarat.
