Death of Former Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani In Air India Plane Crash Condoled
New Delhi: Former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani was among those killed on Thursday (June 12) when a London-bound Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed near the Ahmedabad airport. Rupani’s death was announced by Union minister and Gujarat Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president C.R. Patil.
Rupani served as Gujarat chief minister after Anandiben Patel resigned in 2016. At the time of his elevation as chief minister he was serving as president of the BJP's state unit.
He remained in office till 2021 and is the only chief minister in the state after Prime Minister Narendra Modi to have served for over five years. He was replaced in 2021 by Bhupendra Patel, who is currently heading the state.
In 2022 he was made the party’s in-charge for Punjab. He also served as a Rajya Sabha MP for Gujarat from 2006 to 2012.
“Our leader and former chief minister Vijay Rupani was going to meet his family on this flight. He also lost his life in this incident. May his soul rest in peace. This is a big loss to the BJP,” said Paatil while speaking to reporters.
Political parties across the spectrum have expressed their condolences following Rupani’s death.
Union defence minister Rajnath Singh said that the former chief minister will be remembered as a “grassroots leader”.
“Deeply pained by the tragic demise of former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani ji in the unfortunate plane crash in Ahmedabad. He will be remembered as a grassroots leader who devoted his life for the development & welfare of his state,” he said.
Tributes to Rupani were also paid by Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) MP Supriya Sule, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi.
The flight on Thursday crashed in Meghaninagar near the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport shortly after take-off.
Its crash impacted the hostel of the B.J. Medical College, where some students were reportedly killed and others suffered injuries.
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