Harish Chandra Patel

Harish Chandra Patel Biography

Harish Chandra Patel was a noted politician from Gujarat, belonging to Bharatiya Janata Party. He remained an influential figure in state politics, and has been elected to legislative assembly twice from Sarkhej. He also served as the Speaker of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly from 1995 to 1996. Harish was also associated with freedom struggle movement, particularly Quit India Movement as a student. His son Vijay Patel is also a politician and MLA of Gujarat, who came to limelight after defeating film superstar Rajesh Khanna in a by-election for Gandhinagar Loksabha in 1996. Khanna represented INC then.

Harish Chandra Patel was born on 4 February 1928 at Dholka in present-day Ahmedabad district of Gujarat. His father Lavjibhai Narandas Patel was a freedom fighter who also served as the President of Congress Party in the year 1930. Got inspired by his father, he plunged into national freedom struggle movement during his teens. For his participation in Quit India Movement in 1942, he got jailed for 15 days. He was also rusticated from Government School of Dhilka for his participation and later he continued studies at Sheth CN Vidyalaya, Ahmedabad. He completed his schooling from MP Pandya High School, Jetalpur. He joined RSS in 1943.

Following Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, when more than 60,000 members of Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh were detained, he was one among those. He graduated with Sanskrit from Gujarat College, Ahmedabad and later taught at Bharuch for a brief period. After completing his law studies, he started his professional career as a lawyer, before he turned active with state politics. He has served as President of Gujarat High Court Advocates' Association many times.

Published: September 17, 2018

Updated: September 17, 2018