AHMEDABAD: After a decade outside the political limelight in Gujarat, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Narhari Amin is back in the public glare, emerging victorious in the Rajya Sabha elections held on Friday. The Patidar leader defeated former GPCC president Bharatsinh Solanki, to win the fourth Rajya Sabha seat from Gujarat, giving the saffron party a 3-1 victory.
“I am thankful to BJP for giving me this opportunity. I will represent Gujarat at the national level and give my best,” Amin said after his victory.
After an illustrious political career with the JD(S) and Congress, when he became the state’s youngest deputy chief minister, Amin’s political career slid to successive defeats in the assembly elections of 2002 and 2007. On being denied a Congress ticket, Amin joined the BJP ahead of the 2012 assembly elections. Although he was appointed vice-chairman of the state planning commission at the time, the 65-year-old Amin’s election to the upper house of Parliament signals his return to mainstream politics after a long stint in the wilderness.
Although he had been a top student leader, Amin’s political career began with Janata Dal (G) heavyweight Chimanbhai Patel, who was ousted as CM after the Navnirman agitation. His reward for sticking with Chimanbhai came a good 15 years later, when Patel returned to power in Gujarat in 1990. Amin handled the education and home departments in the Chimanbhai Patel government.
Chimanbhai Patel parted ways with the BJP and merged the JD(G) with the Congress in 1992. Although Amin enjoyed clout in the Congress, the JD(G) tag stuck with Amin and others like Chhabildas Mehta, Dinshaw Patel and Balubhai Patel. Amin was deputy chief minister of Gujarat from April 1994 to March 1995.
Amin remained the unchallenged head of the Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) for almost 17 years, until Union home minister Amit Shah, who was then a Gujarat MLA, engineered the removal of Amin and his loyalists from cricket administration in 2009. Amin was vice-president of the BCCI for four years and head of its marketing committee for six years.
“I am thankful to BJP for giving me this opportunity. I will represent Gujarat at the national level and give my best,” Amin said after his victory.
After an illustrious political career with the JD(S) and Congress, when he became the state’s youngest deputy chief minister, Amin’s political career slid to successive defeats in the assembly elections of 2002 and 2007. On being denied a Congress ticket, Amin joined the BJP ahead of the 2012 assembly elections. Although he was appointed vice-chairman of the state planning commission at the time, the 65-year-old Amin’s election to the upper house of Parliament signals his return to mainstream politics after a long stint in the wilderness.
Although he had been a top student leader, Amin’s political career began with Janata Dal (G) heavyweight Chimanbhai Patel, who was ousted as CM after the Navnirman agitation. His reward for sticking with Chimanbhai came a good 15 years later, when Patel returned to power in Gujarat in 1990. Amin handled the education and home departments in the Chimanbhai Patel government.
Chimanbhai Patel parted ways with the BJP and merged the JD(G) with the Congress in 1992. Although Amin enjoyed clout in the Congress, the JD(G) tag stuck with Amin and others like Chhabildas Mehta, Dinshaw Patel and Balubhai Patel. Amin was deputy chief minister of Gujarat from April 1994 to March 1995.
Amin remained the unchallenged head of the Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) for almost 17 years, until Union home minister Amit Shah, who was then a Gujarat MLA, engineered the removal of Amin and his loyalists from cricket administration in 2009. Amin was vice-president of the BCCI for four years and head of its marketing committee for six years.
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