Vasant Vrajlal Parikh (14 February 1929 ― 16 March 2007) was an Indian politician, social worker, writer, eye surgeon and

Ayurveda Ayurveda () is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific. Ayurveda is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population repo ...

doctor from

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 ...

Biography

Parikh was born on 14 February 1929 at

Vadnagar Vadnagar is a town and municipality in the Mehsana district of the state of Gujarat in India. It just about 35 km from Mehsana city. Its ancient name was Anartapura, and was also known as Anandapura. It was a Buddhist location visited by Xu ...

(now in

Mehsana district Mehsana district (alternate spelling "Mahesana") is one of the 33 districts of Gujarat state in western India. Mehsana city is the administrative headquarters of this district. The district has a population of over 1.8 million and an area of ov ...

, India) in a

Vaishnava Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...

family. He became orphan when he was one and half years old. He was raised by his uncle and aunt, first in Bombay and then in

. He studied

at Jamnagar Ayurveda College and served as a doctor in government hospital for brief period. He studied in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

and became an eye surgeon. With Dr. Dwarkadas Joshi, he founded the Nagrik Mandal Hospital in Vadnagar where he served for rest of his life. He started a TB Hospital in memory of his sister. He was a member of

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 ...

from 1967 to 1971, being elected from

Kheralu Kheralu is a city and a municipality in Mehsana district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is a little north of Mahesana Proper town and it is approximately half the size of Mehsana. History A Bodhisattva sculpture from 3rd-4th century CE was ...

constituency as an independent candidate defeating Shankerji Okhaji Thakore 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 ...

. He had won the election with lowest minimum expenses of . He is considered to be one of former state chief minister and prime minister

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 ...

's political gurus. He is credited with coining the term 'One vote, One note' meaning give me a vote as well as one rupee donation for election campaign as he had no money to contest the election. He was chief supporter of Dharoi dam and was instrumental in campaign for it. He was defeated in 1972 and 1995 legislative assembly elections. He established Karuna Setu trust along with his wife Ratnaprabha Maniar in 1984. He had written 42 books. He died on 16 March 2007 in Vadnagar. Vasant-Prabha Hospital in Vadnagar is named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parikh, Vasant People from Mehsana district 1929 births 2007 deaths Social workers from Gujarat Medical doctors from Gujarat Gujarat MLAs 1967–1971