Patel sad with means the end

Chief minister Keshubhai Patel has categorically said that there could have been a better way of replacing him. He said that he Was ‘not displeased over the decision taken by the high command.’ Talking to reporters at his Gandhinagar residence soon after his return from Delhi, the chief minister said, "I will give’ my official resignation to the governor after the leadership issue is settled by the high command.

When asked whether Narendra Modi will be acceptable to him as the new chief minister, Mr. Patel said the decision will be taken by the BJP legislators and it will be acceptable to him. Mr. Patel categorically refused to accept Governorship after he resigned as CM and said he will remain a party member and work for the party from Gandhinagar and Rajkot.

Mr. Patel also said that he had been assigned no reason for his resignation and that he has done it at the behest of the party high command. When asked about the dissent show by 28 MLAs who have written to the party high command in support of Mr. Patel, he said that they have only requested the high command that they should be heard before taking any decision.

Earlier talking to reporters at the Ahmedabad airport, Mr. Patel said that he had resigned and said that the high command did not ask him to suggest any names for a Successor. He said the decision as to who will be the new leader will be taken only after a party meeting that will be held after former party president Kushabhau Thakre and Gujarat affairs BJP in-charge, Madanlal Khurana arrive in Gandhinagar on Wednesday. Mr. Patel was received by nearly 60 BJP supporters who shouted slogans protesting the ousting of Mr.Patel.

Many of the banners, when translated in English read "The removal of a leader who has done maximum work for the benefit of farmers is a sheer insult." Slogans like Keshubhai Aage Badho, Hum Tumhare Saath Hai (Keshubhai surge ahead, we are with you) reverberated in the air as soon as the chief minister arrived outside the airport.

The chief minister was welcomed by a number of his supporters at the airport. He then left for Gandhinagar. In Gandhinagar he was flanked by former health minister Ashok Bhatt, minister of state for agriculture Bechar Bhadani, minister of state for information technology Bimal Shah, minister of state for information and broadcasting Bharat Baort, minister of state for urban development Parmanand Khattar, minister of state for fisheries Babu Bokhiriya, minister of state for cooperation Ramanlal Vora, minister of state for roads and buildings, panchayat Chiman Saparia, minister of state for animal husbandry Kiritsinh Rana, minister of state for non-conventional energy Mulu Bera, party president Rajendrasinh Rana, MLAs Kamlesh Patel, Dhiru Gajera and Saurabh Patel.

In a related development, a senior BJP leader and Auda chairman Surendra Patel told reporters in Ahmedabad that the change of the guard In the state had become inevitable as the image of the Keshubhai Patel led government had taken a beating. Talking to reporters at the BJP office in Khanpur, Mr. Patel also claimed that the party was thinking of change of leadership even before the polls.

However, the defeat in the by polls proved to be the last nail in the coffin for Keshubhai Patel. Mr.. Patel refrained from blaming Keshubhai for the poll debacle and alleged that media was to be blamed for creation of this negative image of former chief minister in the minds of the people.

Republished from The Asian Age