Hitting out at the Congress-led central government, the Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, on Saturday accused it of "misusing" the CBI to "fabricate allegations" against state minister, Mr Amit Shah and also "conspiring" to hamper the development of Gujarat.
Before announcing the resignation of Shah, who is alleged to be involved in the killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh in a staged shootout in 2005, Mr Modi said the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had misused the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to fabricate allegations against minister for state for home, Mr Shah.
He insisted that Mr Shah was innocent. "Amit Shah is completely innocent. The allegations have been fabricated." Mr Shah has resigned from the state cabinet.
Mr Modi also accused the UPA government of "trying to create obstacles in the way of Gujarat's journey to development".
He said the CBI implicating Mr Shah in the Sohrabuddin case was an "example of a conspiracy to trouble the development of Gujarat".
He also attacked the UPA government of having "failed on all fronts", from the talks with Pakistan to tackling the Maoist menace in the country.
"They went for a dialogue with Pakistan and failed there. Maoists are killing innocent citizens and the government in Delhi is giving statements to which the Maoists reply with bullets. Srinagar is burning again. They have failed on all fronts," Mr Modi told reporters in the morning after reaching Delhi.