Raojibhai Dahyabhai Patel was an Indo-Fijian lawyer and politician, who was better known as the younger brother of

A. D. Patel Ambalal Dahyabhai Patel, better known as A.D. Patel (13 March 1905 – 1 October 1969), was an Indo-Fijian politician, farmers' leader and founder and leader of the National Federation Party. Patel was uncompromisingly committed to a vision of an ...

. To distinguish between the two, he was generally referred to as R.D. A member of parliament from 1966 until 1976, he was Speaker of the House of Representatives between 1972 and 1976.

Early life

R.D. Patel was born in the Kheda district of Gujarat in India. He arrived in

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

after his brother had established his law practice in

Nadi Nadi (pronounced ) is the third-largest conurbation in Fiji. It is located on the western side of the main island of Viti Levu, and had a population of 42,284 at the most recent census, in 2007. A 2012 estimate showed that the population had ...

. Like his brother, he was a lawyer and worked together with him before establishing his own law practice in Ba.

Political career

In the elections for the expanded Legislative Council in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

, he was nominated for the Ba Indian Constituency. This was the most marginal seat in the 1963 election, in which

Sidiq Koya Siddiq Moidin Koya (29 February 1924 – 25 April 1993) was a Indians in Fiji, Fijian Indian politician, Statesman and Leader of the Opposition (Fiji), Opposition leader. He succeeded to the leadership of the mostly Indians in Fiji, Indo-Fij ...

had managed to defeat James Shankar Singh by only 518 votes. With the redrawing of the constituency's boundaries, the seat had become even harder for the

Federation Party The Federation Party was Fiji's first formal political party. The Citizens Federation, which had won three of the four seats reserved for Indo-Fijians at the 1963 elections, decided to formalize its role as a political party, which was officia ...

(NFP) to win, but after a hard campaign, R.D. Patel defeated James Shankar Singh by only 293 votes. He increased his majority in the 1968 by-election to 2000.

Rivalry with Sidiq Koya

After the death of A.D. Patel in 1969, R.D. was touted as the next leader but the party chose

instead. There was dissatisfaction within the National Federation Party with the concessions made by Koya to facilitate Fiji's independence, so after the 1972 election, when R.D. Patel was made the Speaker of the House of Representatives, many assumed that it was an attempt by Koya to get R.D. out of his way. While he was Speaker, he did not refrain from making public comments regarding the way Sidiq Koya was conducting his duties as leader of the NFP. His term as Speaker was not without controversy, and when he adjourned Parliament to delay debate on a Bill that his party opposed, a vote of no-confidence was held on him in May 1973, passing by 21 votes to 15. However, with the constitution requiring a two-thirds majority for a Speaker to be removed from office, he remained in the chair.Immovable
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', June 1973, p12 He later resigned as Speaker in 1976, only to become embroiled in the emerging conflict within the NFP. Differences within NFP were patched up for the elections held in March 1977, but R. D. Patel stood against Sidiq Koya as an independent candidate. Although he lost the election, he won a significant number of votes and "softened" Sidiq Koya for the first defeat of his political career six months later in the September elections. R.D. Patel became the de facto leader of the

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- ...

community in Fiji after his brother's death and he spent the rest of his life in community service, in particular with the Gujarat Education Society of Fiji.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patel, R. D. Indian emigrants to Fiji National Federation Party politicians Indian members of the Legislative Council of Fiji Speakers of the House of Representatives (Fiji) Gujarati people Fijian Hindus Fijian people of Gujarati descent 20th-century Fijian lawyers People from Kheda district Indian members of the House of Representatives (Fiji) Politicians from Nadi Date of birth missing Date of death missing