Anandiben Patel, first woman Chief Minister of Gujarat, offered to resign requesting the BJP leadership to relieve her from the post as she is soon going to be 75.
A day after Gujarat's first woman Chief Minister Anandiben Patel announced her resignation, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi hit out at Narendra Modi saying, 'sacrificing the scapegoat won't save the BJP.'
Ahead of the assembly elections, Anandiben Patel on Monday offered to resign requesting the BJP leadership to relieve her from the post as she is soon going to be 75.
Under the leadership of Patel, who has been a minister in the BJP government since 1998 and CM from 2014, the BJP for the first time in the post-Narendra Modi era in Gujarat is facing a tough challenge from its opponents.
Patel, who will turn 75 on November 21, also said the BJP needed a fresh face in the state before the elections due next year.
Taking to micro-blogging site, Rahul Gandhi said, "13 years of Modi rule, not 2 years of Anandiben are responsible for Gujarat burning. Sacrificing the scapegoat won't save the BJP."
Soon after her announcement, Congress said Anandiben Patel has decided to step down due to pressure from the top leadership of BJP which is 'losing ground' in the state, and termed the move an indication of the saffron party's defeat in the assembly polls due next year.
Senior Congress leader Shankersinh Vaghela said Patel has offered to resign due to BJP high command's diktat, whereas Ahmed Patel, Sonia Gandhi's political secretary, tweeted that her resignation is an indication of BJP's "sure defeat" in 2017.
What Anandiben patel said in Facebook post
"For the last some time there has been a tradition in the party that those who attain the age of 75, voluntarily retires from the post. I will attain the age of 75 in November," the state's first woman chief minister, who succeeded Narendra Modi on May 22, 2014, said in a Facebook post.
"Two months ago I had requested the party to relieve me from the post and today also through this letter, I request the party to relieve me of the post," Patel said.
"I am asking the party to relieve me two months in advance as the new chief minister will require the time to work, when the state is going to face elections in 2017 and an important event like Vibrant Gujarat Summit to be held in January," Patel said.
"It (the rule of 75) is a good thing and it will give a chance to young leaders to come up," she added.
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