The BJP has appointed Union Ministers Pralhad Joshi and Narendra Singh Tomar as observers, as the party looks to avert the crisis in Gujarat at the earliest by choosing a new chief minister to replace Vijay Rupani, who stepped down on Saturday. Party legislators are expected to meet and elect Rupani’s replacement on Sunday. BJP general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh and Gujarat state in-charge Bhupender Yadav are already in the state, consulting leaders over the exercise. Both were having a series of meetings and discussions even ahead of Rupani’s resignation on Saturday. Putting in his papers, Rupani, who took over as the chief minister in August 2016 and continued as the CM after the 2017 elections, has said that he would be taking over any responsibility that the party would give him in future. Rupani was under criticism for its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic situation. As the BJP is gearing up for the Assembly polls due in December 2022, the influential Patidars had demanded that the next chief minister should be a leader from their community.
