Congress leader Gourav Vallabh on Monday blamed top leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party for replacing the chief ministers in BJP ruled states including Gujarat which is set to witness Assembly elections next year, saying the chief ministers that were removed have been made “scapegoat” for the failures of the Centre.
His comments come after Gujarat BJP legislatures elected first-time MLA Bhupendra Patel as the next chief minister of Gujarat. Patel, who is set to take oath today, succeeds Vijay Rupani as 17th chief minister of the state.
Referring to the trend of replacing chief ministers in BJP ruled states, Vallabh said, “It started with Uttarakhand; Trivendra Singh, Tirath Singh and now Dhami. In Karnataka from Yediyurappa to Bommai. In Assam, from Sonowal to Sarma. In Gujarat, from Rupani to Bhupendra Patel. I’m asking why all of them were removed? Because they were not doing good work, this is what they want to share. As far as COVID-19 first and the second wave is concerned. But why they were not doing good work? Because the government of India was not able to give them vaccines. Because the government of India was busy beating ‘tali’ and ‘thali’. They were not procuring the vaccines when major counties of the world were procured.”
“It’s not the time to remove Chief Minister, it is time to remove Prime Minister,” he added.
Earlier, former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat and Trivendra Singh Rawat tendered their resignations.
Born in Ahmedabad, Patel is a first-time MLA from the Ghatlodia seat, a post previously held by Anandiben Patel, who is currently serving as the Governor of Uttar Pradesh with an additional charge of Madhya Pradesh. (ANI)
