News Analysis India

Tag: Vijay Rupani

  • Gujarat Assembly polls: ‘Son’ rise in 20 seats as BJP, Cong field dynasts

    By PTI

    AHMEDABAD: Though frowned upon and favoured in equal measures by parties of different hues, dynastic politics is a traditional feature of electoral contests in the country and the next month’s Gujarat Assembly polls are no exception.

    The ruling BJP and opposition Congress have together fielded sons of sitting and former MLAs in at least 20 of the total 182 constituencies.

    The opposition Congress has fielded 13 such candidates and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to seven.

    Gujarat will vote in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 8.

    According to analysts, political parties are at times compelled to give tickets to dynasts either due to the strong ‘winnability’ factor or in the absence of an alternative in the constituencies where these leaders wield clout.

    When tribal leader and ten-time Congress MLA Mohansinh Rathva severed his decades-old ties with the parent party and joined BJP last month, the ruling party rewarded him by fielding his son Rajendrasinh Rathva from Chhota Udepur seat.

    The segment reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates will witness a straight contest between Rajendrasinh and Congress’ Sangramsinh Rathwa, the son of former Railways minister Naran Rathwa, both making their poll debut.

    Sitting MLA from Sanand seat in Ahmedabad district Kanu Patel is the son of former Congress MLA Karansinh Patel.

    The Patel senior joined the BJP in 2017, paving the way or his son to contest from Sanand again. The BJP has repeated Kanu Patel from the same seat.

    BJP’s candidate from Thasra, Yogendra Parmar, is the son of two-time MLA Ramsinh Parmar, who had won on a Congress ticket in 2007 and 2012 before quitting the party in 2017 but was defeated by a BJP candidate.

    Shailesh Parmar, a two-time MLA of Congress from the Danilimda seat in Ahmedabad, is the son of former MLA Manubhai Parmar. The Congress has once again reposed its faith in Shailesh for the upcoming elections.

    Another such contestant is former two-term MLA Mahendrasinh Vaghela, the son of former Gujarat chief minister Shankersinh Vaghela. Mahendrasinh re-joined Congress last month and was fielded by the party from the Bayad seat.

    He represented the constituency as a Congress MLA between 2012 and 2017, switched over to BJP in 2019, and returned to his parent party- Congress- last month.

    Tushar Chaudhary, the son of former chief minister Amarsinh Chaudhary, has been fielded by Congress from Bardoli, a seat reserved for ST candidates.

    He served as MP of Mandvi between 2004-09 and of Bardoli from 2009 to 2014. Jayesh Radadiya, the son of former BJP MP from Porbandar seat (late) Vitthal Radadiya, had won the 2009 by-election to the Dhoraji Assembly seat.

    He won the 2012 Assembly elections from the Jetpur constituency as a Congress candidate. Jayesh and his father resigned from Congress in 2013. In the 2017 polls, the Radadiya junior won on a BJP ticket from Jetpur. He went on to become a minister in the cabinet headed by Vijay Rupani. The BJP has fielded him from Jetpur for the next month’s elections.

    “There are several families in all political parties which consider politics as their legacy. Such families wield huge influence in their respective seats and can sway the electoral outcome,” said political analyst Ravindra Trivedi.

    He said parties are unable to find an option for such leaders and therefore they are compelled to give tickets to their close kin.

    Trivedi also said in some instances there are ‘dabang’ (strongman) leaders against whom no other leader from their political parties dares to stand.

    “They keep winning successive terms and are given tickets because parties fail to find an alternative. Even when they are replaced, it has to be their sons, daughters or wives,” he said.

    AHMEDABAD: Though frowned upon and favoured in equal measures by parties of different hues, dynastic politics is a traditional feature of electoral contests in the country and the next month’s Gujarat Assembly polls are no exception.

    The ruling BJP and opposition Congress have together fielded sons of sitting and former MLAs in at least 20 of the total 182 constituencies.

    The opposition Congress has fielded 13 such candidates and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to seven.

    Gujarat will vote in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 8.

    According to analysts, political parties are at times compelled to give tickets to dynasts either due to the strong ‘winnability’ factor or in the absence of an alternative in the constituencies where these leaders wield clout.

    When tribal leader and ten-time Congress MLA Mohansinh Rathva severed his decades-old ties with the parent party and joined BJP last month, the ruling party rewarded him by fielding his son Rajendrasinh Rathva from Chhota Udepur seat.

    The segment reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates will witness a straight contest between Rajendrasinh and Congress’ Sangramsinh Rathwa, the son of former Railways minister Naran Rathwa, both making their poll debut.

    Sitting MLA from Sanand seat in Ahmedabad district Kanu Patel is the son of former Congress MLA Karansinh Patel.

    The Patel senior joined the BJP in 2017, paving the way or his son to contest from Sanand again. The BJP has repeated Kanu Patel from the same seat.

    BJP’s candidate from Thasra, Yogendra Parmar, is the son of two-time MLA Ramsinh Parmar, who had won on a Congress ticket in 2007 and 2012 before quitting the party in 2017 but was defeated by a BJP candidate.

    Shailesh Parmar, a two-time MLA of Congress from the Danilimda seat in Ahmedabad, is the son of former MLA Manubhai Parmar. The Congress has once again reposed its faith in Shailesh for the upcoming elections.

    Another such contestant is former two-term MLA Mahendrasinh Vaghela, the son of former Gujarat chief minister Shankersinh Vaghela. Mahendrasinh re-joined Congress last month and was fielded by the party from the Bayad seat.

    He represented the constituency as a Congress MLA between 2012 and 2017, switched over to BJP in 2019, and returned to his parent party- Congress- last month.

    Tushar Chaudhary, the son of former chief minister Amarsinh Chaudhary, has been fielded by Congress from Bardoli, a seat reserved for ST candidates.

    He served as MP of Mandvi between 2004-09 and of Bardoli from 2009 to 2014. Jayesh Radadiya, the son of former BJP MP from Porbandar seat (late) Vitthal Radadiya, had won the 2009 by-election to the Dhoraji Assembly seat.

    He won the 2012 Assembly elections from the Jetpur constituency as a Congress candidate. Jayesh and his father resigned from Congress in 2013. In the 2017 polls, the Radadiya junior won on a BJP ticket from Jetpur. He went on to become a minister in the cabinet headed by Vijay Rupani. The BJP has fielded him from Jetpur for the next month’s elections.

    “There are several families in all political parties which consider politics as their legacy. Such families wield huge influence in their respective seats and can sway the electoral outcome,” said political analyst Ravindra Trivedi.

    He said parties are unable to find an option for such leaders and therefore they are compelled to give tickets to their close kin.

    Trivedi also said in some instances there are ‘dabang’ (strongman) leaders against whom no other leader from their political parties dares to stand.

    “They keep winning successive terms and are given tickets because parties fail to find an alternative. Even when they are replaced, it has to be their sons, daughters or wives,” he said.

  • Vijay Rupani-led govt in Gujarat voted out by BJP high command: Congress leader P Chidambaram

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Congress leader P Chidambaram on Friday took a swipe at the BJP, saying the Vijay Rupani-led government in Gujarat was voted out of office by a no-confidence motion passed by the “BJP High Command of One”.

    Claiming that the Rupani government would have been voted out of power by the people of Gujarat in 2022, he said the new dispensation led by Bhupendra Patel too will meet the same fate when it seeks people’s vote of confidence.

    “The Rupani-led BJP government in Gujarat was voted out of office by a no-confidence motion passed by the BJP High Command of One. Thank god it was done before the people of Gujarat voted it out in December 2022,” he said on Twitter.

    “When the new Bhupendra Patel-led government seeks a vote of confidence from the people, it will be voted out too,” he also said.

    The BJP on Thursday inducted 24 members, including 21 who debuted as ministers, into the four-day-old Bhupendra Patel-led ministry, discarding all ministers in the previous Vijay Rupani-led regime in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat.

    The new ministry, which came a year ahead of the Assembly polls, does not have the post of deputy chief minister, held by Nitin Patel in the Rupani-led ministry.

  • Gujarat CM-designate Bhupendra Patel meets predecessor Vijay Rupani ahead of swearing-in ceremony

    By PTI

    AHNMEDABAD: Gujarat’s Chief Minister-designate Bhupendra Patel on Monday called on Vijay Rupani, who resigned from the top post last week, 15 months ahead of the state Assembly polls.

    Patel, who is scheduled to take oath as the next CM later in the day, met Rupani at the latter’s official residence in Gandhinagar in the morning and held discussions on various issues, a release issued by the state government said.

    After Rupani resigned on Saturday, Patel, who represents Ghatlodia Assembly seat in Ahmedabad, was unanimously elected as the BJP legislative party leader on Sunday. Before meeting Rupani, Bhupendra Patel met Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel at the latter’s residence in Ahmedabad.

    In the wake of incessant rains causing a flood-like situation in some parts of Jamnagar, Bhupendra Patel instructed the district authorities to make necessary arrangements to airlift about 35 people stranded in three villages, which have been inundated and cut off from other parts of the district, another government release said.

    According to Jamnagar district’s disaster management wing, the Indian Air Force has been requested to airlift people stranded in some of the villages of Kalavad and Jamnagar talukas.

  • Bhupendra Patel will be appointed as new Gujarat chief minister

    By PTI

    GANDHINAGAR: BJP MLA Bhupendra Patel will be the new chief minister of Gujarat. Patel (55) was unanimously elected BJP legislature party leader here on Sunday. His name was proposed by CM Vijay Rupani, whose resignation from the post on Saturday surprised many.

    Patel won the 2017 Gujarat Legislative Assembly elections from Ghatlodia constituency, defeating Congress candidate Shashikant Patel.

  • BJP high command to decide new chief minister for Gujarat: Deputy CM Nitin Patel

    By ANI

    AHMEDABAD: Amid speculation by media over probable candidates of Gujarat Chief Minister’s post after Vijay Rupani stepped down from the position, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel clarified that the party’s high command will finalise the name of next Chief Minister.

    “A Chief Minister should be someone who is popular, experienced and takes everyone together. There are rumours in the media that I will be made Chief Minister, but the fact is that the BJP high command will decide who will be the Chief Minister,” Patel told reporters here today.

    He further claimed that the Rupani voluntarily resigned from his position on Saturday. “Vijay Rupani voluntarily resigned from the post. He did not take the decision under any pressure. The central observers sent by the party high command are taking the views of senior BJP leaders on who should be made the Chief Minister. The decision will be taken at the meeting today. All the MLAs have been instructed to be present at the meeting,” he said.

    Patel arrived at the party’s headquarters, Shree Kamalam in Gandhinagar for the state BJP legislative party meet which is being held to discuss the leadership issue. BJP’s central observers Pralhad Joshi and Narendra Singh Tomar have also arrived at the office. State BJP chief CR Paatil was also seen arriving for the meeting.

    Assembly polls in the state are scheduled to take place in 2022.

    On August 7, 2016, Rupani took charge as the Chief Minister of Gujarat. He currently represents Gujarat’s Rajkot West as MLA. In the 2017 state election, the BJP won 99 of the state’s 182 Assembly seats, Congress got 77 seats.

  • Gujarat BJP legislators to meet; decision on Vijay Rupani’s successor likely today

    By PTI

    GANDHINAGAR: The suspense over who will succed Vijay Rupani as Gujarat chief minister will be over after a meeting of BJP legislators here later on Sunday, party sources said.

    Central observer Narendra Singh Tomar, who will attend the meeting, met state BJP chief C R Paatil on Sunday morning.

    BJP has appointed Union ministers Tomar and Prahlad Joshi as observers for the legislature party meeting to elect a new chief minister.

    ​ALSO READ | BJP axes CM Vijay Rupani a year ahead of Gujarat election

    “We have come here to hold further discussions on the issue (new chief minister). We will discuss it with state BJP leaders,” Tomar said at the airport.

    “I will hold consultations with Gujarat leaders, then the central leadership will take a decision,” said Joshi.

    BJP general secretary Tarun Chaag has also reached Ahmedabad.

    There is talk that Praful Khoda Patel, administrator of the union territories of Lakshadweep and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, is among the top contenders.

    Also reportedly being considered are Parshottam Rupala, the Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying and Mansukh Mandaviya, the Union Health Minister.

    BJP’s Central observer @JoshiPralhad said that the legislative party meeting will be held today to discuss the Gujarat chief minister name.@NewIndianXpress @Sunday_Standard
    — Sudhir Suryawanshi (@ss_suryawanshi) September 12, 2021
    Both of them also belong to the Patel or Patidar community.

    The names of Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and state agriculture minister RC Faldu, both from the Patel community, are also doing the rounds.

    Rupani (65) on Saturday resigned from the post, his sudden announcement coming over a year before the state goes to polls.

    It is not clear what prompted the development in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state where elections to the 182-member Assembly are due in December 2022.

    Rupani (65), the fourth chief minister to demit office in BJP-ruled states during the coronavirus pandemic, was sworn in as chief minister — his second stint as CM – in December 2017.

    “I have resigned as chief minister of Gujarat,” Rupani told reporters after meeting Governor Acharya Devvrat and submitting his resignation letter.

    “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,” said Rupani, who completed five years in office on August 7 this year.

    He first became the chief minister on August 7, 2016, following the resignation of incumbent Anandiben Patel, and continued in the office after the BJP’s victory in the 2017 Assembly elections.

  • Rupani made ‘scapegoat’, resignation due to infighting in Gujarat BJP: TMC 

    Sixty-five-year-old Rupani resigned from his post over a year ahead of elections to the 182 seats in Gujarat Assembly due in December 2022.

  • Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani resigns a year before state polls

    By PTI

    AHMEDABAD: Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Saturday resigned from the post, his sudden announcement coming over a year before the state goes to polls.

    It is not clear what prompted the development in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state where elections to the 182-member Assembly are due in December 2022.

    Rupani (65), the fifth chief minister to demit office in BJP-ruled states during the coronavirus pandemic, was sworn in as chief minister, his second stint as CM in December 2017.

    BJP’s general secretary (organisation) B L Santosh and Gujarat state unit in-charge Bhupender Yadav met party functionaries soon after Rupani announced his resignation.

    Party sources said the issue of Rupani’s successor will be discussed in the legislature party meeting likely to be held on Sunday.

    ALSO READ | Vijay Rupani’s soft-spoken image may have been his undoing as Gujarat CM, say observers

    “I have resigned as chief minister of Gujarat,” Rupani told reporters after meeting Governor Acharya Devvrat and submitting his resignation letter.

    “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,” Rupani said.

    “In BJP, there has been a tradition that 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,” Rupani said.

    “I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving a common worker like me this opportunity to serve the people of the state as chief minister,” Rupani said.

    Rupani and state cabinet colleagues met the governor and submitted their resignations.

    Asked about reasons for his resignation, Rupani said, “In BJP, it is like a relay race for party workers. One gives the baton to the other.”

    ALSO READ | Vijay Rupani eased out as BJP continues with governance reset, acknowledges ground feedback

    On who will be the next chief minister, Rupani said that the party will decide about it.

    He denied that he had any differences with state BJP president C R Patil.

    Rupani comes from the Jain community which has around 2% population in the state.

    There is speculation that his successor may be from the Patidar community.

    He first became the chief minister on August 7, 2016, following the resignation of incumbent Anandiben Patel, and continued in the office after the BJP’s victory in the 2017 Assembly elections.

    Rupani, who completed five years in office on August 7 this year, was present at the inauguration on Saturday of Sardardham Bhavan where Modi was present virtually.

    The names of Gujarat Deputy CM Nitin Patel, state agriculture minister R C Faldu and Union ministers Purshottam Rupala and Mansukh Mandaviya are doing the rounds amid speculation over who will succeed Rupani as CM, but it is impossible to say who will be the chief minister as the decision will be taken by Modi, a party leader said.

    Union health minister Mandaviya, who like Patel belongs to the influential Patidar community, is considered a front-runner for the CM’s post.

    Rupani is the fifth BJP CM leaving office since the pandemic began.

    The saffron party had also replaced Lingayat stalwart B S Yediyurappa as Karnataka CM with another Lingayat leader Basavaraj S Bommai.

    ALSO READ | Who will replace Vijay Rupani? Speculation over Nitin Patel, Mansukh Mandaviya as next Gujarat CM

    In Uttarakhand, it replaced two Thakur chief ministers with another Thakur leader, and speculation was rife that Rupani, who comes from a numerically insignificant Jain community, may make way for a Patidar, the largest community in the western state.

    Assam also saw the BJP replacing its chief minister of five years Sarbananda Sonowal with Himanta Biswa Sarma following the assembly elections earlier this year.

    However, this was considered more a case of the party rewarding Sarma than it taking any dim view of his predecessor, who was later made a Cabinet minister in the Modi government.

    Meanwhile, reacting to Rupani’s resignation, Gujarat president of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Gopal Italia said it is BJP’s “tradition” to change chief ministers and claimed it was the “moral pressure created by AAP” in the state which resulted in Rupani’s resignation.

    “It is the tradition of the BJP to change chief ministers. After the earthquake in 2001, then chief minister Keshubhai Patel was changed. Then Anandiben Patel was replaced during Patidar quota agitation which started in 2015. Now Vijay Rupani. The reason behind changing the faces in Gujarat by the BJP leaders is that they are power-hungry, and they don’t want to lose their power in the state,” he said.

    Independent MLA Jignesh Mevani took a dim view of Rupani’s tenure, blaming him for the alleged Covid mess in the state.

    “People of Gujarat would have appreciated had he resigned for his monumental mismanagement of the Covid crisis,” Mevani said.

  • Frequent change of CMs in BJP-ruled states signs of growing high command culture

    Express News Service

    MUMBAI: The BJP, once a party-driven and governed by the local cadres and leadership, are now ingrained with high command culture the way it exists in the Congress.

    The sudden and surprising replacement of Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani ahead of the 2022 state assembly polls shows that the BJP is more like Congress where the high command’s diktat rules the roost. The high command culture of BJP was also witnessed during the replacement of Karnataka and Uttarakhand CMs. Like Congress, every right of choosing the state leadership is given to the high command bypassing one-line resolutions by the elected representatives.

    Professor Surendra Jondhale, a political scientist at Mumbai University said that the Congress structure and culture have been slowly sipping into the BJP.

    “BJP is no different than the Congress now. The replacement of Vijay Rupani is the latest example of the growing high command culture in BJP. BJP’s high command has been in the search of leaders more trustworthy to PM Narendra Modi who can win elections looking at their previous performance. Vijay Rupani was not very popular among the BJP cadres. He was not even a mass leader. Despite all these things, Rupani was made a chief minister by removing Anandiben Patel and the same rule was used to replace him now,” Professor Jondhale said.

    Prof Jondhale said that PM Modi is in the high command in the saffron party above Home Minister Amit Shah. “Narendra Modi does not want to repeat the 2017 state polls where the BJP was stuck in 99 seats in 182 members of the state assembly. They struggled to cross the 100 seats,” Jondhale said.

    Jondhale said that no high command wants another alternative leadership to grow strong in any state that can pose threat to them. “The high commands empower themselves and weaken others including a growing state leader by finding some or other reasons. So, a state leader will always depend on the party’s central leadership to win elections.

    “They do not want leaders with independent minds. Therefore, the BJP has become more like Congress when it comes to managing the party. During its regime, Congress used to change the chief ministers of any state on their whims and fancy. That the high command in Congress that time was very strong like what Narendra Modi is today in BJP,” Jondhale added.

  • Vijay Rupani quitting as Gujarat CM signals end of BJP rule in state, claim AAP, IYC

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress’ youth wing on Saturday said the change of guard in Gujarat signals the end of BJP rule in the state.

    Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Saturday resigned from the post, over a year before the state goes to polls.

    It is not clear what prompted the development in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state where elections to the 182-member Assembly are due in December next year.

    “AAP enters Uttrakhand, presents a robust and effective opposition to ruling BJP. BJP was compelled to remove its CM. AAP breaches BJP’s citadel, wins 27 seats in Surat, captures the space of opposition in Gujarat dislodging ineffective Congress. BJP forced to remove its CM,” AAP leader Raghav Chadha said in a tweet.

    The AAP has made inroads in Gujarat politics, winning 27 seats in the Surat Municipal Corporation in February.

    While the BJP retained power by winning 93 seats in the 120-seat SMC, the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP won the remaining 27 seats. The Congress, which had won 36 seats in SMC last time, was reduced to zero seats.

    The Indian Youth Congress said in a tweet in Hindi, “In the election states, people have made up their mind to change the BJP government, but they are constantly changing the Chief Minister to mislead the people.

    No matter how many Chief Ministers they change, the people have made up their mind to change the BJP itself!” The reset button that the BJP has pressed on governance in the wake of the COVID-19 wave, which also saw a major overhaul by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of his own Cabinet, continues as Vijay Rupani on Saturday became the fourth chief minister to go.

    As the party works to refurbish its governance model, the move to drop Rupani as Gujarat’s Chief Minister, after easing out two chief ministers in Uttarakhand and one in Karnataka in the last few months, contrasts starkly with its decision to remain unyielding in backing its chief ministerial picks during Modi’s first term despite trenchant voices against some of them.

    Political watchers believe the changes highlight the BJP leadership’s analysis of the ground feedback and its readiness to address them, even though a final word on the shake-up can only be delivered at the elections.