Hitendra Kanaiyalal Desai (9 August 1915 – 12 September 1993) was an Indian politician who served as the 3rd

Chief Minister of Gujarat The Chief Minister of Gujarat is the chief executive of the government of the Indian state of Gujarat. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose council of ministers are collectively responsible to the assembly. The chief minister's term ...

from 1965 to 1971 and a leader of

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

and later

Political career

Desai was born in

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...

In a

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

Nagar Brahmin The Nagar Brahmin is a Hindu Brahmin subcaste mainly from the Indian state of Gujarat. Author T. Sasaki says, Among Brahmins in Gujarat Nagar Brahmins were most prominent subdivision in the political, economic and social activities of this ...

family. As a student, he took leading part in debates, sports and other activities at School and College. In 1941-42, he was arrested during the ‘

Quit India The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule i ...

’ freedom Movement for offering individual

Satyagrah Satyagraha ( sa, सत्याग्रह; ''satya'': "truth", ''āgraha'': "insistence" or "holding firmly to"), or "holding firmly to truth",' or "truth force", is a particular form of nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. Someone ...

and went to jail for one year. He was Education Minister in the reorganised

Bombay state Bombay State was a large Indian state created at the time of India's Independence, with other regions being added to it in the succeeding years. Bombay Presidency (roughly equating to the present-day Indian state of Maharashtra, excluding Sou ...

. Hitendra Desai was the Minister of Law in the ministry headed by Dr. Jivraj Narayan Mehta. He was also Minister for Home and Deputy leader of the House. Later, he was the Chief Minister of the state from 20 September 1965 to 12 May 1971. He decided to side with the syndicate after the expulsion of

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

from the Congress. The

1969 Gujarat riots The 1969 Gujarat riots involved communal violence between Hindus and Muslims during September–October 1969, in Gujarat, India. The violence was Gujarat's first major riot that involved massacre, arson, and looting on a large scale. It was the ...

occurred during his administration.

Notes

External links

Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website
1915 births 1993 deaths Chief Ministers of Gujarat People from Surat Gujarat MLAs 1967–1971 Chief ministers from Indian National Congress (Organisation) Indian National Congress (Organisation) politicians India MPs 1977–1979 Lok Sabha members from Gujarat Commerce and Industry Ministers of India Janata Party (Secular) politicians Janata Party politicians Indian National Congress politicians from Gujarat {{Gujarat-INC-politician-stub