After high drama at a meeting of top leaders to name a successor to outgoing Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, the BJP on Friday named party president Amit Shah’s protégé and first time MLA Vijay Rupani as Chief Minister while Nitin Patel, backed by Ms. Patel, was named his deputy.
The meeting, held before the legislature party meeting, reportedly witnessed heated arguments between Mr. Shah and Ms. Patel on the issue of the Patidar agitation and the selection of the new CM. “Ms. Patel even reportedly threatened to leave the meeting half way but Mr. Shah did not budge from his backing to Mr. Rupani,” a senior party leader told The Hindu.
As the arguments continued, organising secretary V. Satish stepped out and reportedly called the Prime Minister to brief him on the situation. After a delay of several hours, central observer Nitin Gadkari briefed the media in the presence of Ms. Patel, Mr. Rupani and Mr. Patel while Mr. Shah skipped the briefing and Ms. Patel refused to talk during the interaction.
