Shaktisinh Harishchandrasinhji Gohil (born 4 April 1960) is an Indian politician. He is a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

and a member of the

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 E ...

. He is party in-charge for state affairs of

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

and national spokesperson of

All India Congress Committee The All India Congress Committee (AICC) is the presidium or the central decision-making assembly of the Indian National Congress. It is composed of members elected from state-level Pradesh Congress Committees and can have as many as a thousan ...

. Shaktisinh served as Minister of Finance, Health, Education, Narmada in two consecutive state governments from 1991 to 1995. He also led the opposition parties in the

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 c ...

as the Leader of Opposition from 2007 to 2012.

Early life and education

Shaktisinh was born on 4 April 1960 at Limda in Bhavnagar district, then in Bombay State. He is the eldest son of royal family of the erstwhile princely state of Limda of Saurashtra region in Gujarat. His mother Rajkumari Rajendrakuwarba, is the eldest daughter of the last ruler of

Gadhka Gadhka is a village and formerly the seat of a Rajput taluka and minor princely state, named after the village, in Western Saurashtra, presently in western India's state Gujarat. The village is one of many in the modern Rajkot Taluka of Raj ...

. He is also related to the royal families of Dared, Lodhika and Rajpur. His grandfather Darbar Saheb Shri Ranjitsinhji Bhavsinhji was last ruler of Limda and an independence activist who took active part in Arz-I-hukumat movement against Junagadh Nawab’s decision to join Pakistan. Ranjitsinhji served as first

Member of the Legislative Assembly (India) A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district (constituency) to the legislature of State government in the Indian system of government. From each constituency, the people elect o ...

from Gadhada constituency after its creation in 1967. Shaktisinh holds degree of Bachelor in science with specialization in chemistry from

Bhavnagar University Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University, formerly Bhavnagar University is a state university located in Bhavnagar city in the state of Gujarat in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South A ...

and Masters in law from

Saurashtra University Saurashtra University is a university in Gujarat state in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most po ...

. He also holds a diploma in journalism.

Political career

Shaktisinh Gohil was elected as the president of the Bhavnagar district Youth Congress Party in 1986 and General Secretary of Gujarat State Youth Congress in 1989. He was also elected as President of Land Development Bank in Umrala during the same time and served in that capacity from 1986 to 1993. Gohil successfully contested Local bodies election from Umrala constituency and became vice president of Bhavnagar district

Zilla panchayat The Zila Panchayat or District Development Council or Mandal Parishad or District Panchayat is the third tier of the Panchayati Raj system and functions at the district levels in all states. A Zila Parishad is an elected body. Block Pramukh of ...

. Shaktisinh became member of AICC in 1990 and thus entered mainstream politics. He successfully contested

from Bhavnagar South Constituency in 1990. He was a

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In ...

in two consecutive governments from 1991-March 1995 and held various portfolios like Finance,

Education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

Health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

Environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

, Narmada,

General Administration Department The General Administration Department ( my, အထွေထွေအုပ်ချုပ်ရေးဦးစီးဌာန, abbreviated GAD) is a civil service body that staffs all regional and state-level governments in Myanmar and provides ad ...

, Technical Education and Education Policy becoming the youngest minister in Gujarat as he held the highest number of portfolios. Shaktisinh resigned as the

for

in 1994, demanding a medical college for Bhavnagar. His first loyalty was to his electorate he said, which deserved the medical college. His resignation galvanized the government to allocate a medical college to Bhavnagar. This, till date remains the only medical college in Bhavnagar, a district with a population of over 15 lakhs (1.5 million). He was re-elected in 1995 and was able to secure the highest number of votes among Congress candidates in Saurashtra region in 1995 elections. Shaktisinh was elected to 12th legislative assembly of Gujarat, defeating Jitu Vaghani of

Bhartiya Janta 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 Mod ...

by margin of over seven thousand votes. He is only person to be elected for 3 terms as a member of

From Bhavnagar South Constituency. Gohil was Leader of Opposition in Gujarat Vidhansabha during 12th

from 2007 to 2012. In 2012 he had to change his constituency as Bhavnagar south ceased to exist as a result of delimitation procedure carried out by Election Commission of India. He unsuccessfully contested from Bhavnagar Rural against Parshotam Solanki of

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 Mod ...

. He was re-elected to 13th

from Abdasa assembly constituency defeating sitting MLA Chhabilbhai Patel, who had defected to

, in a by-election on 16 May 2014. He served as chairperson of Public Accounts Committee of

from 2014 to 2017. He was appointed National Spokesperson of AICC by Congress president in Jan. 2014. Shaktisinh was appointed

State Incharge for Bihar on 2 April 2018. He was made interim incharge for party affairs for

on 12 February 2020 by Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Gohil was elected to Upper house of Indian Parliament on 19 June 2020. He is member of parliamentary standing Committee on Information Technology and Public Accounts Committee.

Positions held

Source: * Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, since June 2020. * AICC incharge for Delhi, since 2020 * AICC incharge for Bihar, 2018 - 2020. * National Spokesperson – AICC, since 2014. * Chairman of Public Accounts Committee, Gujarat Legislative Assembly, 2014 - 2017. * MLA from Abdasa assembly constituency, 2014 – 2017. * Leader of Opposition, Gujarat Legislative Assembly, 2007-12. * Chief spokesperson, Gujarat state Congress Committee, 2002-2007. * Minister of State for Finance, Education, Health, Environment, Narmada, General Administration Department, Technical Education and Education Policy, Gujarat, 1991 to 1995. * Chief Whip of the Congress Legislative Party (CLP), 1995-98. * MLA from Bhavnagar South assembly constituency, 1990 to 1995, 1995 to 1998 & 2007 to 2012. * Vice President, Bhavnagar District Panchayat (1986-1990). * President of Land Development Bank, Umrala (1986-1993). * All India Congress Committee (AICC) member since 1990. * General Secretary of Gujarat State Youth Congress (1989). * President District Youth Congress (1986).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gohil, Shaktisinh Leaders of the Opposition in Gujarat Gujarat MLAs 2012–2017 Indian National Congress politicians People from Bhavnagar district Living people 1960 births Gohils Gujarat MLAs 1990–1995 Gujarat MLAs 1995–1998 Gujarat MLAs 2007–2012 Gujarati people Rajya Sabha members from Gujarat