Ahmedabad: Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel has called upon the BJP leadership to “relieve” her from her present responsibilities in keeping with the “party‚’s laudable tradition of leaders who turn 75 vacating their posts. In a Facebook post in Gujarati on Monday, Patel says: I turn 75 in November but I would request the leadership to relieve me now to allow more time to the new incumbent.
The BJP has accepted her offer, said sources, and its legislators in Gujarat will now select her successor, with the frontrunners reportedly narrowed down to Nitin Patel and Vijay Rupani, both currently ministers.
Patel said the State government’s ambitious biennial Vibrant Gujarat meet this year-end and the crucial state assembly elections fall next year. She said, The new Chief Minister will thus have adequate time to prepare for these important events.