Gujarat Assembly election results: Reduced BJP strength sparks CM speculation

BJP president Amit Shah had announced during the campaign that the party was fighting elections under Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and his deputy Nitin Patel. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was, however, the face of the party in the keenly-contested elections.

Sources said that a formal meeting to name the leader of the elected candidates of BJP will be convened after the meeting of the parliamentary board in Delhi. Looking at the BJP’s loss of seats in the Assembly election — where six of its ministers and the Speaker of the outgoing Assembly, Ramanlal Vora, were voted out — the party may not replace Vijay Rupani as its chief minister, keeping in mind the “continuity” factor ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Rupani has bettered his victory margin by over 30,000 votes from his 2014 bypoll when he contested from Rajkot West after the seat was vacated by Vajubhai Vala who was appointed the Governor of Karnataka. Asked who will be the next chief minister, PTI quoted Rupani as saying, “The BJP fought this election in Gujarat with my face. But the final decision will be taken by the party’s parliamentary board.”

Gujarat BJP president Jitu Vaghani said that any decision related to government formation and naming the chief minister will be formally communicated. “The party has fought and won elections under the leadership of Vijay Rupani and (Deputy CM) Nitin Patel. And so, it is very unlikely that Rupani will be replaced as Chief Minister by the top leadership,” a senior party leader said.

Sources close to Rupani reminded that he had taken the reins of the state “when the state under the chief ministership of Anandiben Patel was going through a troubled phase due to the Patidar quota agitation”. “His brief tenure as CM has been non-controversial,” they said. Sources said that the administration has started preparations to hold swearing-in ceremony on December 25, which is the birthday of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Since 2014, the BJP has been celebrating the day as Good Governance Day. After the 2012 elections, Narendra Modi had taken oath of office for the fourth time on December 25.

The term of the current Assembly ends on January 22. Chief Secretary, J N Singh, inspected the Sardar Patel stadium in Ahmedabad, the likely venue of the ceremony, today.

“We have not been informed anything (on likely date or venue of the swearing-in ceremony). But, to stay prepared for the event, I visited the three venues which may host the event along with other senior officials from other concerned departments,” Singh told The Indian Express. He, however, said the team will also inspect other venues like Mahatma Mandir and Sabarmati Riverfront, which has been the showpiece of the BJP’s development politics. Modi had personally escorted Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife, besides Japanese premier Shinzo Abe and his spouse to the Sabarmati Riverfront.

Sources in the BJP said that Modi, party chief Amit Shah as also chief ministers of BJP-ruled states are likely to attend the swearing-in ceremony. “After the election victory, there is a process. Observers will come from Delhi and preside over the meeting of newly elected MLAs to decide on the chief minister. After the meeting, the newly elected chief minister will stake claim to form government and the oath-taking ceremony will be held,” state BJP spokesperson Jagdish Bhavsar said.

On Monday, the BJP had announced that Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and party general secretary Saroj Pandey will be the observers for the selection of the new Gujarat chief minister. Observers are likely to visit Gujarat after December 21 to elect the new leader, party sources said.

With PTI inputs