Vijay Rupani became the fourth BJP's chief minister to be replaced in the last six months.
In a surprise move, Rupani on Saturday resigned as Chief Minister of Gujarat almost 15 months before state polls, becoming fourth chief minister to be changed in six months in three states - Uttarakhand, Karnataka and Gujarat.
In March, the saffron party replaced Uttarkhand's then chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat with Lok Sabha member Tirath Singh Rawat. In July, four months after being made chief minister, Tirath Singh Rawat was replaced by two-time MLA Pushkar Singh Dhami. After Uttarakhand, BJP replaced B S Yediyurappa with Basavaraj Bommai in Karnataka.
A party leader claimed that chief ministers in Gujarat and Karnataka were replaced to bring in new leadership in the states. "In Karnataka, there was strong resentment against the chief minister and his son. Similarly, there was a demand in the Gujarat unit for the removal of Rupani by a section of the party saying it will be difficult to win next year's state polls under his leadership," he said.
While in Uttarakhand, Trivendra Singh Rawat was replaced to bring in a new face, he was removed due to his failure to get elected to the state Assembly within six months of being sworn in as chief minister of the state.
Among all the replacement of BJP chief ministers, the current change of guard in Gujarat took place without any buzz. "There was a discussion and demand from a section in the party to change the chief minister but no one expected that the news would come this way. We have no idea that it will be announced after submitting resignation," a party leader from Gujarat said.
In March, before replacing Trivendra Singh Rawat, the BJP had sent two members to the state, which included former Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh, to collect feedback.
Similarly before replacing Tirath Singh Rawat, the BJP central leadership had called him to the national capital and explained to him about the constitutional and legal crisis. Amid months of speculation about a change of guard in Karnataka, Yediyurappa had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the top BJP leadership. Yediyurappa took his time and resigned after his government completed two years in July.
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