Keshubhai Patel

Keshubhai Patel

Keshubhai Patel was a six-time member of Gujarat Legislative Assembly. He was a member of RSS since 1940s, of Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1960s, Janata Party in 1970s, and the Bharatiy Janata party from 1980. He resigned in 2014 due to ill health and merged his party with BJP.

About Keshubhai Patel in brief

Summary Keshubhai PatelKeshubhai Patel was a six-time member of Gujarat Legislative Assembly. He was a member of RSS since 1940s, of Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1960s, Janata Party in 1970s, and the Bharatiy Janata party from 1980. He left the BJP in 2012 and formed the Gujarat Parivartan Party. He later resigned in 2014 due to ill health and merged his party with BJP. Patel was among the 3,500 people from Gujarat to be jailed under the draconian Maintenance of Internal Security Act. He won assembly elections for the constituencies of Rajkot, Gondal, Kalavad, Tankara, and Visavadar between 1975 and 2012.

He did not contest the 2002 Gujarat assembly election but was elected to the Rajya Sabha unopposed in 2002. Patel resigned as the chief minister of Gujarat on 2 October 2001 due to poor health. Allegations of abuse of power, corruption and poor administration, as well as a loss of seats in the aftermath of the 2001 Bhuj earthquake prompted the BJP’s national leadership to seek a new candidate for the office of chief minister.