Vijay Rupani replaced Anandiben Patel as the Chief Minister of Gujarat in August 2016. It surprised many as the 60-year-old first time MLA trumped all other contenders for the post. Rupani's elevation to the top post was seen as a move to please the Jain community.
Many opined that his closeness to BJP chief Amit Shah may have worked in his favour. Rupani also wields considerable influence in Saurashtra, a politically significant part of Gujarat.
Born in Rangoon (now Myanmar) to Ramniklal Rupani in 1956, Vijay Rupani grew up in Rajkot where he joined RSS as a schoolboy. He pursued BA and then LLB.
He was a Pracharak of RSS from 1978 to 1981. He was elected as a corporator of Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) in 1987 and became the chairman of drainage committee. The next year became the chairman of standing committee of RMC from 1988 to 1996. He was again elected to RMC in 1995. He served as the mayor of Rajkot from 1996 to 1997.
He became BJP's Gujarat unit general secretary in 1998 and served as the chairman of manifesto committee during chief minister-ship of Keshubhai Patel. He was appointed as a chairman of Gujarat Tourism in 2006. He was a member of Rajya Sabha from 2006 to 2012. He served as BJP's Gujarat unit general secretary four times and chairman of the Gujarat Municipal Finance Board in 2013, during chief minister-ship of Narendra Modi.
He was inducted as the minister in the first cabinet expansion by Chief Minister Anandiben Patel in November 2014 and held the ministry of transport, water supply, labour and employment.
He was the BJP state president from February 2016 to August 2016.
His contribution to develop Rajkot as the industry centre of Saurashtra is also well-recognised.
OneIndia News with PTI inputs
