Former Gujarat chief minister Keshubhai Patel passes away

Former Gujarat chief minister Keshubhai Patel has passed away at the age of 92. He had tested positive for coronavirus last month.

Patel served as the chief minister of Gujarat in 1995 and from 1998 to 2001. He became a member of Gujarat Legislative Assembly six times. However, in 2012, he quit the BJP and formed a new political party, the Gujarat Parivartan Party.

Patel was elected from Visavadar assembly seat in 2012 but resigned in 2014 due to health-related issues.

Born in Visavadar town of Junagadh district in 1928, Keshubhai Patel joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in 1945 as a ‘pracharak’. Later he started his political career as a worker for the Jan Sangh. He was a founder member of the Jan Sangh.

Condoling Patel’s demise, RSS Sah-Sarkaryavah Dr Manmohan Vaidya said, “With the sad demise of Shri Keshubhai Patel, former Chief Minister of Gujarat, we have lost a people’s leader, a visionary and a swayamsevak. My deepest condolences and prayers for the departed soul.”