Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel resigns

It seems like this is a tough week for women politicians in India. First, Sasikala Pushpa gave a statement in Rajya Sabha that strongly suggested All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader J Jayalalithaa had threatened and slapped her. “I have a threat to my life, and I am being compelled to resign from my Constitutional post by my leader,” said Pushpa in Rajya Sabha earlier today. “I will not do it. I have been harassed and slapped by her yesterday.”

And if you thought that was high drama, consider this: Gujarat’s first woman chief minister, Anandiben Patel, has submitted her resignation to the “top brass”. In a letter that Patel posted on Facebook and Twitter, she said that she had tried to resign two months ago and had today again requested that she be allowed to step down from the position of Chief Minister.

With first the Patidar agitation and now the Dalit protests that have plagued Gujarat, Patel hasn’t had it easy in her time as chief minister. Whether her resignation has been accepted is not known.