New Delhi: Amidst reports of infighting in the Gujarat wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party, assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi resigned from his post on the morning of Thursday, September 16, throwing into uncertainty the swearing-in of the new cabinet under newly appointed chief minister, Bhupendra Patel.
Trivedi, the Raopura MLA, has been Speaker of the Gujarat assembly since February, 2018. The reasons for his quitting are unclear. Indian Express has reported that he submitted his resignation to the Deputy Speaker, announcing his intention to quit with immediate effect.
Hon’ble Speaker of Gujarat Legislative Assembly Shri. #RajendraTrivedi tenders his Resignation from the post of Speaker.@PMOIndia@CMOGuj@ombirlakota@Bhupendrapbjp@narendramodi@ddgirnarlive@ADevvrat@AmitShah@VPSecretariat@DDNewslive pic.twitter.com/Gh5IyJdgAD
— Rajendra Trivedi (@trajendrabjp) September 16, 2021
The Gujarat Legislature Secretariat has announced that the Speaker’s chair will be vacant since the “forenoon” of September 16, 2021.
Reports had claimed that there had been infighting among BJP ranks over ministerial berths. The names of new ministers have not been declared so far.
The swearing-in ceremony was first announced to be held on Wednesday afternoon and preparations for it had started at the governor’s house in the state capital.
However, the plan was later dropped. Banners of the swearing-in ceremony were also taken down. Neither the BJP nor the state government gave any reasons for the postponement.
On Wednesday evening, the Chief Minister’s Office announced that the swearing-in ceremony of new ministers will be held at 1.30 pm at the Raj Bhavan in the state capital Gandhinagar on Thursday.
Patel (59), a first-time MLA from Ahmedabad, took over as the new Gujarat chief minister on Monday after the sudden resignation of Vijay Rupani last Saturday, September 11.
(With PTI inputs)