Shankersinh Vaghela | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader of Opposition Gujarat Legislative Assembly | |
| In office 23 January 2013 – 21 July 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Shaktisinh Gohil |
| Succeeded by | Mohansinh Chhotubhai Rathava |
| Union Textile Minister of India | |
| In office 23 May 2004 – 22 May 2009 | |
| Preceded by | Syed Shahnawaz Hussain |
| Succeeded by | Dayanidhi Maran |
| 12th Chief Minister of Gujarat | |
| In office 23 October 1996 – 28 October 1997 | |
| Preceded by | Suresh Mehta |
| Succeeded by | Dilip Parikh |
| Member of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly | |
| In office 2012–2017 | |
| Constituency | Kapadvanj |
| In office 1997–1998 | |
| Constituency | Radhanpur |
| Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha | |
| In office 1991–1996 | |
| Preceded by | Shantilal Patel |
| Succeeded by | Shantilal Patel |
| Constituency | Godhra |
| In office 1989–1991 | |
| Preceded by | G. I. Patel |
| Succeeded by | L. K. Advani |
| Constituency | Gandhinagar |
| In office 1977–1980 | |
| Preceded by | Dharmsinh Desai |
| Succeeded by | Natvarsinh Solanki |
| Constituency | Kapadvanj |
| In office 1999–2009 | |
| Preceded by | Jaysinhji Chauhan |
| Succeeded by | Constituency Abolished |
| Constituency | Kapadvanj |
| Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha | |
| In office 10 April 1984 – 9 April 1990 | |
| Constituency | Gujarat |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1940-07-21)21 July 1940 (age 85) |
| Party | Independent (2020–present) |
| Other political affiliations | Bharatiya Janata Party (1980's–1996) Rashtriya Janata Party (1996–1998) Indian National Congress (1998–2017) Jan Vikalp Morcha/AIHCP(2017–2019) Nationalist Congress Party(2019–2020) Praja Shakti Democratic Party(since 2022) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 sons, includingMahendrasinh Vaghela |
| Residence(s) | Gandhinagar,Gujarat,India |
| Alma mater | Gujarat University (MA in Economics) |
As of 25 February, 2006 Source:[1] | |
Shankersinh Vaghela (born 21 July 1940) is an Indian politician and formerChief Minister of Gujarat. He was also theLeader of Opposition in 13thGujarat Legislative Assembly.
Vagela started his political career with theJana Sangh, which later merged into theJanata Party in 1977. AfterJanata Party split into various fractions, Vaghela became a senior leader of theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In 1996, he broke away from the BJP and formed theRashtriya Janata Party. He served as theChief Minister of Gujarat from 1996 to 1997. Later, his party merged withIndian National Congress (Congress). 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 in2017 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election. He was a member of theNationalist Congress Party in 2019-20.
He has also served as aMember of Parliament, having been elected to the6th,9th (1989-1991),10th,13th and14thLok Sabhas. He was also a member of theRajya Sabha from 1984 to 1989. He served as theUnion Cabinet Minister of Textiles from 2004 to 2009 in theFirst Manmohan Singh Cabinet. He represented theKapadvanj constituency in the Gujarat legislative assembly from 2012 to 2017.[1]
Vaghela was born to Laxmansinh and Nathuba on 21 July 1940 in Vasan inGandhinagar district, inGujarat. He completedMaster of Arts in economics fromGujarat University. Vaghela married Gulab Ba on 9 June 1960, with whom he has three sons.[2][3] His sonMahendrasinh was MLA fromBayad from 2012 to 2017.[4]
Vaghela was an active member ofRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) before joiningJana Sangh. He was jailed during theIndira Gandhi Emergency.
After the Emergency was lifted, he was elected to the6th Lok Sabha (1977–1979) on aJanata Party ticket fromKapadvanj but lost that seat in 1980 elections.
He was the Vice-President of theJanata Party inGujarat and from 1980 to 1991 he was the General Secretary and President of theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) inGujarat. He was a member of theRajya Sabha from 1984 to 1989. In 1989 he was elected to the9th Lok Sabha (1989–91) fromGandhinagar and in 1991 he was re-elected to the10th Lok Sabha (1991–96) fromGodhra (Lok Sabha constituency).
In 1995, BJP won a majority of 121 seats in the 182-memberLegislative Assembly. Many party legislators expressed a preference for Vaghela as their leader. However, the BJP leadership installedKeshubhai Patel as the Chief Minister, and the support for Vaghela was gradually eroded.Narendra Modi 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,Keshubhai Patel was replaced by a Vaghela loyalistSuresh Mehta as the Chief Minister. Modi was temporarily banished from Gujarat.[5]
Vaghela lost Godhra seat in May 1996 Lok Sabha polls, and soon leftBharatiya Janata Party with his supporters, bringing downSuresh Mehta's government.
He floated his own party, namedRashtriya Janata Party and became Chief Minister with Congress Party's support in October 1996.
He won by-poll to Gujarat Assembly fromRadhanpur 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 MLADilip Parikh became CM with Vaghela's reluctant blessings.
Even Parikh's government did not last long and fresh elections forGujarat Vidhan Sabha 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 andKeshubhai Patel became CM again.
Vaghela was now established as a major politician inIndian National Congress Party. He was elected toLok Sabha in 1999 and 2004 from Kapadvanj as Congress candidate. He was made Union CabinetMinister of Textiles in May 2004. Kapadvanj seat was reconstituted as Panchmahal seat in 2008. Vaghela lost Panchmahal seat toBJP in 2009Lok Sabha polls. Ahead of theGujarat Legislative Assembly 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 theGujarat Legislative Assembly. He has also served as the president ofGujarat Pradesh Congress Committee.
He contested 2014 Lok Sabha election fromSabarkantha constituency in Gujarat and lost to BJP candidateDipsinh Shankarsinh Rathod.
Vaghela had been appointed chairman of theIndia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), which runs theAshoka group of hotels across the country.
Vaghela was one of 57 Congress MLAs suspended for wearing slogans against BJP presidentAmit Shah.[6]
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 againstAhmed Patel, the INC candidate for theRajya Sabha, and supported BJP nomineeBalvantsinh Rajput.[7]
Soon after he left the Indian National Congress, he launched a new outfit called Jan Vikalp Morcha with Parthesh Patel ahead of2017 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 ofJaipur-basedAll India Hindustan Congress Party to contest election.[8][9][10][11][12] AIHCP garnered only 0.3% (83,922) of total votes and did not win any seat.[13][7]
Vaghela joined theNationalist Congress Party (NCP) in January 2019. He was appointed the National General Secretary as well as the State President of the party.[7] He was removed from the post of State President in early June 2020, a week before2020 Indian Rajya Sabha elections. He resigned from the NCP on 22 June 2020 citing his displeasure at his removal from the post and cross voting by NCP's only MLAKandhal Jadeja in Rajya Sabha election.[14]
On 21 August 2022, Vaghela launched a new party, Praja Shakti Democratic Party, with an intention to contest2022 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election.[15] Later he backed the INC instead.[16]
| Preceded by | Chief Minister of Gujarat 23 October 1996 – 27 October 1997 | Succeeded by |
