GANDHINAGAR: With nearly 14 months to go for his second term as the chief minister (CM) of Gujarat, Vijay Rupani suddenly resigned on Saturday, saying that he was running a relay race which he was running for five years and now he hands over the baton to someone else in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to take over. 

Within a few hours of virtually addressing an event of the Patidar community that was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rupani met Governor Acharya Devvrat and submitted his resignation.

Although the abrupt resignation of the CM who had 14 months to go for his second term, took several people both from within and outside the party by surprise, Rupani himself seemed to have worked out the formalities in consultation with the party high command. He had celebrated five years of being in power recently and no one had any inkling that he would be asked to put in his papers.

Coming out of the Governor's house, Rupani told reporters, "The decision was taken by the party in the larger interest of the state and someone else will continue the good work. In our party, it is like a relay race for party workers. One gives the baton to the other and the development work continues under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi."

He thanked both PM Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah who is considered his mentor and said that he was ready to take new responsibilities assigned to him by the party. 

Rupani had replaced Anandiben Patel in similar circumstances on 7th August 2016 and continued in the office after the BJP's victory in the 2017 assembly elections in which the party won 99 of the state's 182 assembly seats. The Congress was very close bagging 77 seats in the stage assembly. Gujarat is slated to go to the polls in December 2022.

With Rupani putting in his papers there was furious speculation over his possible replacement and several names began doing the rounds including that of BJP Gujarat chief C R Paatil, state vice-president Gordhan Zadafia, former state home minister Praful Patel presently the administrator of Lakshadweep and Daman and Diu, recently inducted union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya and Patidar leader and state general secretary Gordhan Jhadaphia.

Gujarat BJP spokesperson Yamal Vyas has said that everything being discussed in the public domain especially the names for CM would be only speculation as the MLA's meeting will be called to appoint the new leader along with observers from the Central Parliamentary Board of the party.