Vijay Rupani resigns as Gujarat Chief Minister

The development comes hours after Rupani took part in the video conferencing event where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also present.

File Photo (IANS)

New Delhi: Vijay Rupani on Saturday (September 11, 2021) resigned as the Chief Minister of Gujarat. The reason behind Rupani's resignation has not been ascertained yet. 

"I want to thank BJP for giving me this opportunity to serve as Gujarat's CM. During my tenure, I got the opportunity to add to the development of the state under PM Modi's leadership," Vijay Rupani said after tendering his resignation to Governor Acharya Devvrat.

Gandhinagar: Vijay Rupani submitted his resignation to Governor Acharya Devvrat, from the post of Gujarat's Chief Minister pic.twitter.com/VqavB2jj9h

— ANI (@ANI) September 11, 2021

The development comes hours after Rupani took part in the video conferencing event where Prime Minister Narendra Modi performed the 'Lokarpan' of the Sardardham Bhavan and 'Bhoomi Pujan' of Sardardham Phase – II Kanya Chhatralaya. The Deputy CM of Gujarat Nitin Patel was also present on the occasion.

Live - Honourable Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji inaugurates Sardardham Bhavan, lays foundation stone of Sardardham Phase II Kanya Chhatralayahttps://t.co/6lXW5KePB8 — Vijay Rupani (@vijayrupanibjp) September 11, 2021

Rupani, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, was serving as Chief Minister of Gujarat since August 2016. He is a member of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly and represents the Rajkot West legislative assembly constituency.

Earlier on Friday, Vijay Rupani had spoken at a gathering of the Maldhari community. During his address, he had said that his government was dealing strictly with those who "trap" Hindu girls and elope with them. Rupani had also stated the BJP government in the state has acted tough on those involved in cow slaughter.

"My government brought in several laws with strict provisions. Be it the law to save cows from slaughter, the law to stop land grabbing, or the law to punish those involved in chain-snatching," he had said.

"We also brought a law to stop 'love jihad'. We are dealing strictly with those who trap Hindu girls and elope with them," Rupani had said.

He was speaking after performing the ground-breaking ceremony for a planned building of the Raika Education Charitable Trust.

It is worth noting that Gujarat will go to the polls next year. Last month, the state unit president of BJP, CR Patil, had said that the party will contest the next year's Assembly elections under the leadership of Vijay Rupani. Patil had given a thumbs up to the leadership of the Rupani-Patel duo.

Earlier this year, Vijay Rupani had also collapsed while addressing a public meeting at Vadodara. The 65-year old was given first aid on the stage, following which he was seen descending the stairs of the stage on his own.

He was then tested positive for the novel coronavirus, a day after he fainted on the stage.