Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel on Monday dropped a bombshell by requesting party leadership to resign through a Facebook post.
In her Facebook post, Patel said that she was turning 75 in November adding that she appreciated the new trend in the party where leaders over the age of 75 were voluntarily resigning.
There have been speculations over Anandiben Patel resigning because of growing anger against her government. Her daughter Anar Patel was embroiled in a series of alleged corruption.
More recently, Dalits have been launching state-wide protests against her government after members from the right-wing groups had publicly thrashed four Dalit youth.
In a letter posted on her Facebook page, Patel, who took charge as Gujarat’s first woman chief minister has said that she had two months earlier sought to resign from the party to give “enough time to the new incumbent to prepare for important events like the upcoming Vibrant Gujarat summit”.
Patel had to faced some upsets as BJP recently fared badly in the rural civic bodies polls in December 2015 and the opposition Congress making gains at the cost of the saffron rival.
She also had to face the fierce Patel community quota agitation, one of the factors which contributed to BJP losing in rural local bodies polls, while retaining urban areas. Recently, the Dalit uprising after the Una trashing incident had also dented the image of party.
Gujarat goes to polls next year.
While Anandiben Patel claimed her resignation was related to her age as she will turn 75 this November, social media users have had their own reasons and conspiracy theories.
Her supporters described the decision as a sign of an utter grace, her detractors were clear that the Dalit protests had proved to be the last nail in the coffin for her.
Here are some interesting tweets;
Facebook should add "it's complicated" as an option under Work. #AnandibenPatel
— jatin gandhi (@jatingandhi) August 1, 2016
#AnandibenPatel resigns via Facebook. A new achievement under Digital India initiative !#BJPScaredOfAAPinGuj
— Ashutosh Patel ?? (@_AshutoshPatel) August 1, 2016
Kudos to @anandibenpatel 4 setting high-bar in political standards.No other India CM could do this?#AnandibenPatel pic.twitter.com/M4pycDMY4L
— #Intolerant भारतीय (Sanjeev Goyal) (@goyalsanjeev) August 1, 2016
Cow carcasses on Gujarat streets, CM #AnandibenPatel resigns
If only human lives mattered as much, a Gujarat CM would've resigned 14 yrs ago— Aditya Menon (@AdityaMenon22) August 1, 2016
The curse of chief minister's office hits Gujarat BJP. No BJP CM, except Modi, has lasted a full five year term. #anandibenpatel
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) August 1, 2016
Modi won elections because of Gujarat violence & he will lose elections because of Gujarat violence.This is the Sad Reality. #AnandibenPatel
— Salman Nizami (@SalmanNizami_) August 1, 2016
Smriti Irani shunted to textiles, #AnandibenPatel goes into retirement. Are BJP leaders paying the price for Dalit anger?
— Aditya Menon (@AdityaMenon22) August 1, 2016
India will now begin to understand the reason for Modi's unstable actions in Delhi. AAP pressure enormous #AnandibenPatel
— Anil Acharya (@aa3132) August 1, 2016
Every charge BJP makes on @ArvindKejriwal boomerangs it back sooner or later. Bhagodi #AnandiBenPatel is latest one! https://t.co/Bja8amkzmT
— Keshava (@Kumar_Ke5hav) August 1, 2016
https://twitter.com/AAPkSaath/status/760088623115010048
