Keshubhai quits as CM

By Manas Dasgupta

GANDHINAGAR, OCT. 3. In a swift turn of events today, the Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr. Keshubhai Patel, submitted his resignation to the Governor, paving the way for Mr. Narendra Modi to take over.

The BJP legislature party will meet here at 10 a.m. tomorrow to formally elect Mr. Modi, the party general-secretary, as their leader. His name will be proposed by Mr. Patel himself and seconded by his second-in-command, Mr. Suresh Mehta, who had expressed reservations on Tuesday about continuing under a ``relatively junior leader''. The swearing-in ceremony will be held on Sunday and is likely to be attended by the Union Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani.

Mr. Modi, who arrived here from New Delhi this morning, refused to meet the media and said he might hold a press conference only after he was formally elected the leader. He declined to indicate whether other Cabinet Ministers would be sworn-in along with him. Refusing to indicate the size and structure of his Cabinet, Mr. Modi said, ``All these matters will be decided by the party.''

The Governor, Mr. Sunder Singh Bhandari, accepted Mr. Patel's resignation and asked him to continue till the new Ministry was installed.

Contrary to the hard posture adopted by Mr. Patel earlier, the smooth changeover was apparently facilitated by the party's former president, Mr. Kushabhau Thakre, and the vice-president, Mr. Madanlal Khurana, who is in-charge of Gujarat.

Immediately after their arrival from New Delhi here today, they drove down straight to the official residence of Mr. Patel and were closeted with him for about half-an-hour. They reportedly lambasted Mr. Patel for adopting a defiant posture and informed him that the high command had taken a strong view of his statements at the Ahmedabad airport on Tuesday, where he talked of a majority support in the Legislature Party to decide the leader.

The modalities that he himself propose Mr. Modi's name and that Mr. Mehta second it were decided at the meeting; this would present a cohesive picture of the party. He was informed that Mr. Modi was the high command's choice and that there was no question of who enjoyed majority support in the Legislature Party.

A reluctant Mr. Patel was told by the central leaders that he should tender his resignation to the Governor today itself so that there was no scope left for creating any ruckus at the meeting tomorrow.

Mr. Modi was summoned to seek the ``blessings'' of the outgoing Chief Minister. Mr. Thakre and Mr. Khurana, along with Mr. Modi, also called on Mr. Mehta to ensure that no last-minute hitch arose. Initially reluctant, Mr. Mehta is also understood to have agreed to continue in the Cabinet if desired. Mr. Modi later called on several other senior leaders and Ministers in the outgoing Cabinet, soliciting their support in the new task.

Talking to presspersons in his ``last press conference as the Chief Minister'', Mr. Patel sought to set at rest speculation about his political future.

Denying that he had ever threatened to resign from the party in case he was removed from office, he said he would continue as a member of the Assembly and would serve the party in his capacity as an ordinary member.

He, however, sounded hurt at the way he was made to quit. The high command, he said, should have adopted some way by which ``my self-respect and status'' were not injured.

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