Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel on Tuesday termed media reports about her imminent removal as baseless. Talking to reporters on the sidelines of her visit to Indore and Ujjain where she attended the Simhastha Maha Kumbh, Anandiben clarified that she would continue to be at the helm in the State and there wouldn’t be any change of guard.
During a function in Ahmedabad late on Monday evening, Anandiben told reporters, “Keep calm, you will come to know”. This comment came after TV and print media reported her imminent departure as Chief Minister, following a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP’s president Amit Shah in New Delhi.
The Gujarat BJP said as both the Modi Government at the Centre and the Anandiben Government in Gujarat are completing two years, the party is getting ready to celebrate the occasion in a big way.
Apart from senior Minister Nitin Patel, Gujarat BJP president Vijay Rupani and State BJP organising secretary Bhikhu Dalsania were being touted as her replacement in the media reports. After the BJP’s historic win in the 2014 lok Sabha polls, Dalsania had emerged as one of the contenders to become Modi’ successor in Gujarat.
In order to counter media reports, State BJP spokesman Bharat Pandya dismissed the buzz over the Chief Minister’s exit on Monday night. In a statement Pandya said that Anandiben was in New Delhi to attend a water scarcity related meeting along with senior Minister Nitin Patel and all rumours regarding her exit were baseless.
“The Modi Government at the Centre and the Anandiben Government in Gujarat are completing two years and the party organization is getting ready to celebrate the occasion in a big way. Under the leadership of Anandiben, Gujarat is progressing in all areas, such baseless matters are strongly refuted,” said Pandya in the statement.