Vijay Rupani, former Gujarat Chief Minister, dies in Air India plane crash

way2barak, June 12: Former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, who was on the Air India flight that crashed in Ahmedabad, has died, BJP’s state president CR Patil said. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft bound for London crashed five minutes after taking-off near Ahmedabad airport.

Patil called the plane crash a “tragic incident” and expressed deep sorrow over the loss of lives.

“Former Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has passed away. The BJP family is deeply saddened,” Patil told reporters in Mehsana, mourning the death of the BJP leader. “May God grant peace to all the departed souls, and give strength and peace to the families of the deceased.”

Rupani served as the Chief Minister of Gujarat from August 2016 to September 2021, before resigning ahead of the 2022 state elections.

Vijay Rupani is the second politician who served as the Gujarat CM who died in an air accident, sixty years after Balwantrai Mehta’s death in a 1965 plane crash.

BJP MP Sambit Patra called the demise Rupani “extremely painful and deeply shocking”.

“His passing is an irreparable loss not just for Gujarat, but for Indian politics as a whole. May Lord Jagannath grant the departed soul a place at His divine feet and give strength and courage to the bereaved family members and supporters in this difficult time. Om Shanti,” Patra wrote on X.