Shankersinh Laxmansinhji Vaghela (born 21 July 1940) is an

Indian politician Politics of India works within the framework of the country's Constitution. India is a parliamentary democratic secular republic in which the president of India is the head of state & first citizen of India and the prime minister of India is ...

and former

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 ...

. He was the

Leader of Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

in 13th

Gujarat Legislative Assembly Gujarat Legislative Assembly or Gujarat Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Gujarat, in the state capital Gandhinagar. Presently, 182 members of the Legislative Assembly are directly elected from single-member cons ...

. Vagela started his political career with the

Jana Sangh The Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh, full name: Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh; ) ( ISO 15919: '' Akhila Bhāratīya Jana Saṅgha '' ) was an Indian right wing political party that existed from 1951 to 1977 and was the po ...

, which later merged into the

Janata Party The Janata Party ( JP, lit. ''People's Party'') was a political party that was founded as an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the Emergency that was imposed between 1975 and 1977 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of the Indian Nati ...

in 1977. After

split into various factions, Vaghela became a senior leader of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

(BJP). In 1996, he broke away from the BJP and formed the

Rashtriya Janata Party Rashtriya Janata Party was a political party in Gujarat, India. It was a splinter group of Bharatiya Janata Party. This group was led by Shankersinh Vaghela and Dilip Parikh. It was later dissolved and its leaders joined the Indian National Congre ...

. He served as the

from 1996 to 1997. Later, his party merged with

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 ...

(

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

). On 21 July 2017, he left congress and resigned from the post of the leader of opposition. He formed new outfit Jan Vikalp Morcha which contested but did not win any of the seats in 2017 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election. He was a member of the

Nationalist Congress Party The Nationalist Congress Party ( NCP) is one of the nine national parties in India. The party generally supports Indian nationalism and Gandhian secularism. It is the largest opposition party in Maharashtra and is also a significant party in ...

in 2019-20. He has also served as a Member of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, having been elected to the 6th,

9th 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

(1989-1991), 10th, 13th and 14th

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

s. He was also a member of the

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

from 1984 to 1989. He served as the Union Cabinet Minister of Textiles from 2004 to 2009 in the

First Manmohan Singh Cabinet The First Ministry of Manmohan Singh was the first Union Council of Ministers of India under the Prime Ministership of Dr. Manmohan Singh. It was formed after the 2004 Indian general election held in four phases during 20 April - 10 May 2004, to ...

. He represented the

Kapadvanj Kapadvanj (Karpat – Vanjiyam or "The Land of Textile") is a town as well as one of the Taluka of the Kheda district in the Gujarat India. It is located on bank of river Mohar. It is 65 km away from Ahmedabad and 93 km away from Vado ...

constituency in the Gujarat legislative assembly from 2012 to 2017.Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website
.

Personal life

Vaghela was born to a Vaghela Koli Laxmansinh and Nathuba on 21 July 1940 in Vasan in Gandhinagar district, in

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

. He completed

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in economics from

Gujarat University The Gujarat University is a public state university located at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The university is an affiliating university at the under-graduate level and a teaching university at the postgraduate level. It is accredited B++ by N ...

. Vaghela married Gulab Ba on 9 June 1960, with whom he has three sons. His son Mahendrasinh was MLA from

Bayad The bayad (''Bagrus bajad''), is a species of bagrid catfish from Africa. Distribution The natural habitat of the bayad are lakes and rivers in Africa. These include lakes such as Lake Chad, Lake Albert, and Lake Turkana, as well as rivers suc ...

from 2012 to 2017.

Political career

Vaghela was an active member of

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family" ...

(RSS) before joining

. He was jailed during the Indira Gandhi's Emergency.

Janata Party and Bharatiya Janata Party

After the Emergency was lifted, he was elected to the

6th Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India. The 6th Lok Sabha, which ran from 23 March 1977 to 22 August 1979 was elected in February and March 1977. 11 sitting members from Rajya Sabha were elected to 6t ...

(1977-1979) on a

ticket from

but lost that seat in 1980 elections. He was the Vice-President of the

and from 1980 to 1991 he was the General Secretary and President of the

(BJP) in Gujarat. He was a member of the

from 1984 to 1989. In 1989 he was elected to the

9th Lok Sabha List of Members of the 9th Lok Sabha (2 December 1989 – 13 March 1991) elections in 22–26 November 1989. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India. Twelve sitting members from Rajya Sabha were electe ...

(1989–91) from

Gandhinagar Gandhinagar (, ) is the capital of the state of Gujarat in India. Gandhinagar is located approximately 23 km north of Ahmedabad, on the west central point of the Industrial corridor between Delhi, the political capital of India, and Mu ...

and in 1991 he was re-elected to the

10th Lok Sabha List of Members of the 10th Lok Sabha, (20 June 1991 – 10 May 1996) elected during 1991 Indian general election held during May–June 1991. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India, four sitting memb ...

(1991–96) from

Godhra (Lok Sabha constituency) Godhra was a Lok Sabha parliamentary constituency in Gujarat, India. Most of its area is now covered by the Panchmahal Lok Sabha constituency, after the 2008 delimitation. Members of Lok Sabha *1952-62: ''Does not Exist'' *1967: Piloo Mody, Swat ...

. In 1995, BJP won a majority of 121 seats in the 182-member Legislative Assembly. Many party legislators expressed a preference for Vaghela as their leader. However, the BJP leadership installed

Keshubhai Patel Keshubhai Patel (24 July 192829 October 2020) was an Indian politician who was the Chief Minister of Gujarat in 1995 and from 1998 to 2001. He was a six-time member of Gujarat Legislative Assembly. He was a member of RSS since 1940s, of Bharatiya ...

as the Chief Minister, and the support for Vaghela was gradually eroded.

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

is said to have thrown his weight behind Keshubhai Patel in preference to Vaghela, and was held responsible for the ensuing events by Vaghela. In September 1995, Vaghela rebelled against the BJP leadership with the support of 47 MLAs. In the subsequent compromise worked out by the leadership,

was replaced by a Vaghela loyalist

Suresh Mehta Suresh Mehta (born 5 August 1936) is an Indian politician and former Chief Minister of Gujarat from 1995 to 1996. Biography Early life Suresh Mehta was born on 5 August 1936 at Mandvi, Cutch State (now in Kachchh District, Gujarat, India). ...

as the Chief Minister. Modi was temporarily banished from Gujarat. Vaghela lost Godhra seat in May 1996 Lok Sabha polls, and soon left

with his supporters, bringing down

's government.

Rashtriya Janata Party and Chief Minister

He floated his own party, named

and became Chief Minister with Congress Party's support in October 1996. He won bye-poll to Gujarat Assembly from Radhanpur seat in early 1997. But he had to resign as Chief Minister during ongoing political turmoil in Gujarat in October 1997, and his fellow-rebel ex-BJP MLA

Dilip Parikh Dilip Ramanbhai Parikh (16 February 1937 – 25 October 2019) was an Indian politician and industrialist. He was the 13th Chief Minister of Gujarat from 28 October 1997 to 4 March 1998. Early life Parikh was born in 1937 in Bombay (now Mumbai). ...

became CM with Vaghela's reluctant blessings. Even Parikh's government did not last long and fresh elections for

Gujarat Vidhan Sabha Gujarat Legislative Assembly or Gujarat Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Gujarat, in the state capital Gandhinagar. Presently, 182 members of the Legislative Assembly are directly elected from single-member cons ...

had to be called in 1998. Vaghela did not contest these elections. He merged his new party with Congress. BJP came back to power with thumping majority in Gujarat in 1998 and

became CM again.

Indian National Congress

Vaghela was now established as a major politician in

Party. He was elected to

in 1999 and 2004 from Kapadvanj as Congress candidate. He was made Union Cabinet Minister of Textiles in May 2004. Kapadvanj seat was reconstituted as Panchmahal seat in 2008. Vaghela lost Panchmahal seat to

BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

in 2009

polls. Ahead of the

election, 2012, he was appointed the Chairman of Campaign Committee. He contested from the Kapadvanj constituency and won. He was named the leader of Opposition in the

. He has also served as the president of

Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee The Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) is the state unit of the Indian National Congress in Gujarat. Jagdish Thakor is the president of the Committee. It has 1,862 seats in various urban and rural local bodies in Gujarat. Its office is l ...

. He contested 2014 Lok Sabha election from

Sabarkantha Sabarkantha district is one of the 33 districts of Gujarat state of India and is located in the northeastern part of the state. The administrative headquarters of the district are located in Himatnagar. Geography Sabarkantha District is bounded ...

constituency in Gujarat and lost to BJP candidate

Dipsinh Shankarsinh Rathod Dipsinh Shankarsinh Rathod is an Indian politician and a member of parliament to the 16th Lok Sabha from Sabarkantha, Gujarat. He won the 2014 Indian general election being a Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ...

. Vaghela had been appointed chairman of the

India Tourism Development Corporation The India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) is a hospitality, retail and education company owned by Government of India, under Ministry of Tourism. Established in 1966, it owns over 17 properties under the Ashok Group of Hotels brand, acros ...

(ITDC), which runs the Ashoka group of hotels across the country. Vaghela was one of 57 Congress MLAs suspended for wearing slogans against BJP president

Amit Shah Amit Anil Chandra Shah (born 22 October 1964) is an Indian politician currently serving as the Minister of Home Affairs since 2019 and the first Minister of Co-operation of India since 2021. He served as the President of the Bharatiya Janata P ...

. In July 2017, he left Indian National Congress and stepped down from the post of Leader of Opposition in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly, after he and a few other INC MLAs voted against Ahmed Patel, the INC candidate for the

, and supported BJP nominee Balvantsinh Rajput.

Jan Vikalp Morcha / AIHCP

Soon after he left the Indian National Congress, he launched a new outfit called Jan Vikalp Morcha with Parthesh Patel ahead of 2017 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election. As the application for registration of Jan Vikalp Morcha was not approved by the elections were announced by the Election Commission, his outfit fielded 95 candidates under the symbol and banner of

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi Language, Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Rajasthan. , the city had a pop ...

-based

All India Hindustan Congress Party All India Hindustan Congress Party ( AIHCP) is a political party based in Jaipur. Rajasthan, India. The party was formed by Budhh Prakash Sharma in 2015. Organisation and structure Central Working Committee The president and the Central Working ...

to contest election. AIHCP garnered only 0.3% (83,922) of total votes and did not win any seat.

Nationalist Congress Party

Vaghela joined the

(NCP) in January 2019. He was appointed the National General Secretary as well as the State President of the party. He was removed from the post of State President in early June 2020, a week before 2020 Indian Rajya Sabha elections. He resigned from the NCP on 22 June 2020 citing his displease at his removal from the post and cross voting by NCP's only MLA

Kandhal Jadeja Kandhalbhai Jadeja is an Indian politician associated with Samajwadi Party and a member of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly from Kutiyana since 2012. He is son of Santokben Jadeja belonging to Kadachh village. He has three brothers, Karanbhai, ...

in Rajya Sabha election.

Praja Shakti Democratic Party

On 21 August 2022, Vaghela launched a new party, Praja Shakti Democratic Party, with an intention to contest 2022 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election. Later he backed the INC instead.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaghela, Shankersinh Koli people 1940 births Living people People from Gujarat Chief Ministers of Gujarat India MPs 2004–2009 Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Gujarat Rashtriya Janata Party politicians Indian National Congress politicians People from Gandhinagar district India MPs 1977–1979 India MPs 1989–1991 Lok Sabha members from Gujarat India MPs 1991–1996 India MPs 1999–2004 United Progressive Alliance candidates in the 2014 Indian general election Leaders of the Opposition in Gujarat Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh members Rajya Sabha members from Gujarat Gujarat MLAs 1995–1998 Gujarat MLAs 2012–2017 Gujarat University alumni