Gandhi’s comments came after Gujarat chief minister Patel announced her resignation on Monday.
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Among the frontrunners for the CM’s post are BJP MP Vijay Rupani, Gujarat MLA Saurabh Patel and Cabinet Minister Nitin Patel.
Mr. Naidu said the BJP Parliamentary Board had considered Ms. Patel’s offer and made a decision to accept it. He said Ms. Patel had set a great example for people, both within and outside the party, by offering to make way for the next generation. Anandiben’s resignation bears an uncanny resemblance to circumstances which led to the then chief minister Keshubhai Patel’s exit in 2001. Patel, who is Gujarat’s first female chief minister, was hand-picked by Narendra Modi as his successor when left Gandhinagar to become prime minister in may 2014. He has shared good relations with all BJP CMs of the state, including Keshubhai Patel, Narendra Modi and Anandiben Patel, and has had a spotless career so far, without being involved in any controversies.
Amit Shah will remain the BJP chief as Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu ruled out his name for Gujarat Chief Minister on Wednesday. She said the decision was driven by the fact that she was nearly 75 years old, the age at which Modi expects ministers to retire.
The BJP central leadership during a parliamentary party meeting here chose to send Nitin Gadkari and Saroj Pandey as observers to the state. “The chief minister will be from the existing legislators”, said Naidu. The event was also addressed by Stephen Manallack, President AIBC Victoria Chapter; Manika Jain, consul-general of India in Melbourne; Amanda Pickrell a Victoria government representative, and Deepak Goyal, representing the top consulting firm KPMG, which organized the trip.
An earlier report by the RSS pointed out that the BJP lost as many as 104 seats in the December 2015 Panchayat elections due to escalating Patidar agitation.
“Amit Shah will be part of the meeting and will consult everyone about selecting the (next) leader. I will place her letter before the (BJP) parliamentary board which will take the final decision”, he said.
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He, however, said that Shah would be present in the meeting of legislature party to be held in Gujarat on Thursday to decide the next chief minister.
