Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani has become the 5th Chief Minister to be replaced by the BJP this year
Yesterday, the Bhartiya Janata Party announced the removal of Vijay Rupani as the Chief Minister of Gujarat. Rupani submitted a written resignation letter to the party just ahead of the state’s assembly elections that are scheduled for the next year.
Addressing the media, Vijay Rupani said, “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. In BJP, there has been a tradition that the responsibilities of party workers change from time to time. I will be ready to take whatever responsibility that the party will give me in the future”.
Possible Reasons for Rupani’s Exit
Although it is impossible at the current point in time to really confirm the circumstances of Vijay Rupani’s exits, there have been a few speculations by observers.
Some of the observers are of the opinion that the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, its effect on the healthcare infrastructure, and the failure of the administration to deal with it effectively or deal with it at all, was the reason Rupani took this stern decision.
Some others believe that the image of Vijay Rupani as a ‘soft-spoken’ person present a weak face for the Chief Minister of a state such as Gujarat.
It is noteworthy that this was the third time that Rupani served as the Chief Minister of the state. Earlier in 2016, following the resignation of Anandiben Patel, Rupani took the reins. Following this, he oversaw a landslide victory for the BJP in the 2017 elections and continued to be the Chief Minister. This means that he had just completed 5 years as the CM of Gujarat in August 2021, which is last month.
Difference Between Modi 1.0 and Modi 2.0
It becomes all the more relevant to mention that during the first tenure of Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister of India, only Anandiben Patel was asked to quit as a Chief Minister by the party in the 2014-19 period. However, for the second tenure of PM Modi, that is Modi 2.0, Rupani became the 5th CM to be removed by the party in 2021 alone.
At the beginning of the year 2021, Trivendra Singh Rawat was replaced by Tirath Singh Rawat as the CM of Uttarakhand. Only a few months later, on July 2 Tirath Singh Rawat also resigned from his post following which, Pushkar Singh Dhami was sworn in. Then later this year on July 26, veteran leader BS Yediyurappa resigned as the Chief Minister of Karnataka.
At the same time, Sarbanand Sonowal was also replaced as the Assam CM by Himanta Biswa, by the BJP. The stark difference between Modi 1.0 and Modi 2.0 is very visible in the phenomenon of replacement of the state CMs by the BJP. However, the reasons that may be various, are not clear yet. Is the party taking ground-level feedback seriously or are ideological differences within the party going to an all time high, only time will tell.
