1. Shankersinh Vaghela was the Leader of Opposition in 13th Gujarat Legislative Assembly.
33 Facts About Shankersinh Vaghela
1. 2.
Shankersinh Vaghela served as the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 1996 to 1997.
3.
Shankersinh Vaghela formed new outfit Jan Vikalp Morcha which contested but did not win any of the seats in 2017 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election.
4.
Shankersinh Vaghela has served as a Member of Parliament, having been elected to the 6th, 9th, 10th, 13th and 14th Lok Sabhas.
5.
Shankersinh Vaghela was a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1984 to 1989.
6.
Shankersinh Vaghela served as the Union Cabinet Minister of Textiles from 2004 to 2009 in the First Manmohan Singh Cabinet.
7.
Shankersinh Vaghela represented the Kapadvanj constituency in the Gujarat legislative assembly from 2012 to 2017.
8.
Shankersinh Vaghela was born to Laxmansinh and Nathuba on 21 July 1940 in Vasan in Gandhinagar district, in Gujarat.
9.
Shankersinh Vaghela completed Master of Arts in economics from Gujarat University.
10.
Shankersinh Vaghela married Gulab Ba on 9 June 1960, with whom he has three sons.
11.
Shankersinh Vaghela was an active member of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh before joining Jana Sangh.
12.
Shankersinh Vaghela was the Vice-President of the Janata Party in Gujarat and from 1980 to 1991 he was the General Secretary and President of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat.
13.
Shankersinh Vaghela was a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1984 to 1989.
14.
However, the BJP leadership installed Keshubhai Patel as the Chief Minister, and the support for Shankersinh Vaghela was gradually eroded.
15.
Narendra Modi is said to have thrown his weight behind Keshubhai Patel in preference to Shankersinh Vaghela, and was held responsible for the ensuing events by Shankersinh Vaghela.
16.
In September 1995, Shankersinh Vaghela rebelled against the BJP leadership with the support of 47 MLAs.
17.
Shankersinh Vaghela lost Godhra seat in May 1996 Lok Sabha polls, and soon left Bharatiya Janata Party with his supporters, bringing down Suresh Mehta's government.
18.
Shankersinh Vaghela floated his own party, named Rashtriya Janata Party and became Chief Minister with Congress Party's support in October 1996.
19.
Shankersinh Vaghela won by-poll to Gujarat Assembly from Radhanpur seat in early 1997.
20.
Shankersinh Vaghela was now established as a major politician in Indian National Congress Party.
21.
Shankersinh Vaghela was elected to Lok Sabha in 1999 and 2004 from Kapadvanj as Congress candidate.
22.
Shankersinh Vaghela was made Union Cabinet Minister of Textiles in May 2004.
23.
Shankersinh Vaghela lost Panchmahal seat to BJP in 2009 Lok Sabha polls.
24.
Shankersinh Vaghela was named the leader of Opposition in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly.
25.
Shankersinh Vaghela has served as the president of Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee.
26.
Shankersinh Vaghela contested 2014 Lok Sabha election from Sabarkantha constituency in Gujarat and lost to BJP candidate Dipsinh Shankarsinh Rathod.
27.
Shankersinh Vaghela had been appointed chairman of the India Tourism Development Corporation, which runs the Ashoka group of hotels across the country.
28.
Shankersinh Vaghela was one of 57 Congress MLAs suspended for wearing slogans against BJP president Amit Shah.
29.
Shankersinh Vaghela joined the Nationalist Congress Party in January 2019.
30.
Shankersinh Vaghela was appointed the National General Secretary as well as the State President of the party.
31.
Shankersinh Vaghela was removed from the post of State President in early June 2020, a week before 2020 Indian Rajya Sabha elections.
32.
Shankersinh Vaghela resigned from the NCP on 22 June 2020 citing his displeasure at his removal from the post and cross voting by NCP's only MLA Kandhal Jadeja in Rajya Sabha election.
33.
On 21 August 2022, Shankersinh Vaghela launched a new party, Praja Shakti Democratic Party, with an intention to contest 2022 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election.