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Sheela Bhatt in New Delhi
A visibly disgusted Chief Minister of Gujarat, Keshubhai Patel, left for Ahmedabad, but not before taking more than a few digs at the manner in which the issue of his resignation was handled by the Bharatiya Janata Party top bosses.
An angry Patel said the way in which his resignation was sought was 'procedurally' incorrect.
When asked by rediff.com about his feelings at the prospect of being relieved of his chief ministerial duties, Patel said he was feeling 'free' and 'without any burden'.
He said he would submit his resignation to the Gujarat Governor S S Bhandari as and when the party so desired.
On his reported reluctance to resign, he cryptically said, "It is not in our party tradition."
He added things got delayed because he had requested the Centre to allow him to consult his ministerial colleagues before taking a final decision.
He said the Centre came to the conclusion that there were two opinions in the party on the issue of his resignation.
When asked whether Narendra Modi would be his successor, Keshubhai reluctantly said that Modi's name wasn't put forward before him as his likely successor.
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