Vijay Rupani Biography: Vijaybhai Ramniklalbhai Rupani (born 2 August 1956) is an Indian politician who served from 2016 to 2021 as the 16th Chief Minister of Gujarat for two terms. He was a Gujarat Legislative Assembly member who represented Rajkot West. He belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Vijay Rupani Biography
Early years
Vijay Rupani was born in Yangon, Myanmar to Jain Bania parents Mayaben and Ramniklal Rupani. He was the youngest and seventh child of the couple. 1960 saw the relocation of his family from Burma to Rajkot due to political instability. Bachelor of Arts from Dharmendrasinhji Arts College and Juris Doctor from Saurashtra University.
Career
Vijay Rupani began his career as an ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad) student activist.In 1971, he joined both the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Jan Sangh. He has been a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party since its inception. During the 1976 Emergency, he was imprisoned for eleven months and sent to the prisons in Bhuj and Bhavnagar. From 1978 to 1981, he served as RSS Pracharak. In 1987, he was elected to the Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) and appointed chairman of the drainage committee. He served as the chairman of the RMC’s standing committee from 1988 to 1996. In 1995, he was again elected to RMC. From 1996 until 1997, he served as mayor of Rajkot. During Keshubhai Patel’s tenure as chief minister, he served as the chairman of the manifesto committee and as general secretary of the Gujarat unit of the BJP. In 2006, he was designated chairman of Gujarat Tourism. He was a Rajya Sabha member from 2006 to 2012. During Narendra Modi’s tenure as chief minister, he served four times as general secretary of the Gujarat unit of the BJP and in 2013 as chairman of the Gujarat Municipal Finance Board.
In August 2014, when Vajubhai Vala, the sitting speaker of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly, resigned as the MLA for Rajkot West, the BJP nominated Vijay Rupani to run for the seat. On 19 October 2014, he won the by-election by a large margin
In November 2014, he was appointed minister in the first cabinet expansion by Chief Minister Anandiben Patel and held the ministries of transportation, water supply, labour, and employment.
On February 19, 2016, Rupani succeeded R. C. Faldu as the state president of the BJP. He served as the state president of the BJP from February 2016 until August 2016.
Chief Executive (2016-2021)
On August 7, 2016, he was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, succeeding Anandiben Patel. In the 2017 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election, he defeated the Indian National Congress candidate Indranil Rajyaguru to retain the Rajkot West seat. On 22 December 2017, he was unequivocally elected as the leader of the legislative party and continued as the Chief Minister of Gujarat alongside Nitin Patel. On September 11, 2021, he resigned his position as chief minister. His successor was Bhupendra Patel.
Controversy
In 2011, Vijay Rupani HUF sold Sarang Chemicals shares purchased in 2009 for approximately 63000, or $1000, for approximately 35000, thereby incurring a loss. The regulator SEBI had accused 22 entities, including a relative of Vijay Rupani, with “manipulative trades” by pump and dump. In November 2017, the SEBI issued an ex parte order penalising Vijay Rupani HUF 150000 ($3000) for creating a misleading appearance in the equities. Vijay Rupani HUF argued that it was not given an opportunity to be heard before the penalty was imposed. The SEBI stated that the entity failed to file a timely response to their show cause notice. Later, the Securities Appellate Tribunal vacated the penalty order and demanded that the SEBI issue a new order and hear all entities.
Personal sphere
Anjali, who is married to Vijay Rupani, is a member of the BJP’s women’s branch. The couple has a son with an engineering degree, Rushabh, and a daughter who is married, Radhika. The couple established the Pujit Rupani Memorial Trust after the untimely death of their son Pujit.
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