Express News Service
AHMEDABAD: Something was amiss at the mega roadshow in Rajkot on Friday to mark the culmination of the Good Governance Week in Gujarat.
CM Bhupendra Patel and the BJP’s state president CR Patil were in the hometown of former CM Vijay Rupani for the roadshow, but Rupani didn’t show up until Patil had left midway, leading to speculation in the state’s political circles that all’s not well between the former CM and his party’s Gujarat chief.
While the CM stood on his seat in an open jeep during the entire roadshow from Rajkot Airport to Dharmendrasinhji College, Patil, who had flagged off the vehicles from the airport, left before they reached the college. It was only after Patil had left that Rupani suddenly appeared on the scene.
This was the second time Rupani was absent in Patil’s presence. Earlier, the former CM had chosen to be in Surat during the state president’s Rajkot tour. This time, BJP sources said that Rupani was out of town when the CM and Patil arrived at his hometown for the roadshow, and showed up after he returned later.
The sources added that Rupani is annoyed with Patil as he believes the latter played a big role in forcing his resignation from the post of CM by complaining about him to the central leadership. The BJP had announced a day before the Rajkot roadshow that Rupani would be involved in it. Due to Rupani staying away so long as Patil was there, talk of factionalism has resurfaced.
Earlier, when Rupani was CM and was asked at a press conference about the availability of Remdesivir injections at the BJP state headquarters, he had angrily replied, “Only CR Patil can answer that question.”
On being asked about what happened at Rajkot, BJP spokesperson Yagnesh Dave said, “Vijaybhai (Rupani) has no resentment. If that were the case, he could have said it when he left the CM post. He is an MLA and has been present in every party function.”
