Parshottam Rupala

(Redirected from Parsottambhai Rupala)

Parshottam Khodabhai Rupala (born 1 October 1954) is an Indian politician and Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying in the Second Modi ministry.[1] He was elected to 18th Lok Sabha from Rajkot.[2] He was a member of Rajya Sabha,[3] representing the Indian state of Gujarat and a leader of Bharatiya Janata Party. He was a former member of Gujarat Legislative Assembly from Amreli and formerly served as a minister in Government of Gujarat.

Parshottam Rupala
Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying
In office
7 July 2021 – 11 June 2024
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byGiriraj Singh
Succeeded byLalan Singh
Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare
In office
5 July 2016 – 7 July 2021
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
MinisterRadha Mohan Singh
Narendra Singh Tomar
Minister of State for Panchayati Raj
In office
5 July 2016 – 30 May 2019
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
MinisterNarendra Singh Tomar
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
In office
1 June 2016 – 2 April 2024
Preceded byPraveen Rashtrapal
Succeeded byJ. P. Nadda
ConstituencyGujarat
In office
10 April 2008 – 9 April 2014
ConstituencyGujarat
President of Bharatiya Janata Party, Gujarat
In office
26 October 2006 – 1 February 2010
Preceded byVajubhai Vala
Succeeded byR. C. Faldu
Minister of Agriculture
Government of Gujarat
In office
7 October 2001 – 21 December 2002
Chief MinisterNarendra Modi
Minister of Irrigation & Water Supply
Government of Gujarat
In office
19 March 1995 – 19 September 1996
Chief MinisterKeshubhai Patel
Suresh Mehta
Member of Gujarat Legislative Assembly
In office
1991–2002
Preceded byDileepbhai Sanghani
Succeeded byParesh Dhanani
ConstituencyAmreli
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
Assumed office
4 June 2024
Preceded byMohan Kundariya
ConstituencyRajkot
Personal details
Born (1954-10-01) 1 October 1954 (age 70)
Amreli, Bombay State, India
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party
SpouseSavitaben Rupala (m. 1979)
ChildrenOne daughter and one son
Alma materB. Sc. (Saurashtra University)
B. Ed. (Gujarat University)
OccupationPolitician, Agriculturist
Websitewww.parshottamrupala.com
Source: [1]

Early life

edit

Rupala was born to Hariben Khodabhai and Khodabhai Madhabhai, on 1 October 1954.[4] Rupala earned his B.Sc. and B.Ed. He studied at Saurashtra University and Gujarat University in 1976–1977.

Before entering politics, he served as School Principal at Hamapur in Medium School from 1977 to 1983.[5] He was the chief officer of the Amreli municipality from November 1983 to March 1987.

Career

edit

Rupala was the president of the Amreli district Bhartiya Janta Party from 1988 to 1991. This led to his service as Secretary of the Bhartiya Janta Party in 1992.

He was Chairman of a youth hostel from February 2002 to 2004. He served as trustee of Kadva Patidar trust, in Amreli, Chairman of Madad Trust and President of the Gujarat electricity board union.

He served 3 consecutive terms as a member of Gujarat Legislative Assembly ending in 2002.[6]

He was a Cabinet Minister in Narmada for Irrigation and Water Supply from 19 March 1995 to 20 October 1995 and again from 4 November 1995 to 18 September 1996; for Agriculture from 9 October 2001 to 21 December 2002. He chaired the Public Accounts Committee of Gujarat Legislative Assembly from March 1997 to December 1997.

He was the Chairman of Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (G.I.D.C.) from June 1998 to October 2001.

He was elected a Rajya Sabha Member (2008-2009) where he served on the Committee on Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Member (Aug. 2009 - Aug. 2010), on the Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice Member (July 2010 -), on the Committee for the Ministry of Shipping Member (Sept. 2010 -) and on the Committee on Chemicals and Fertilizers Member, Committee on Agriculture (Aug. 2012 -).

He was again elected to Rajya Sabha in June 2016 in by-poll following death of sitting Congress MP Praveen Rashtrapal.[7] From May 2019 to July 2021, he served as the Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.[8] In July 2021, he became Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying.[9][10]

He was elected to Loksabha from Rajkot constituency in 2024 Indian general election.

Controversies

edit

During the Lok Sabha Elections 2024, Parshottam Rupala, stirred controversy due to his remarks about the Rajput community during a campaign rally. His comments, which criticized the actions of erstwhile 'maharajas' for allegedly capitulating to foreign rulers and British colonizers, sparked protests from the Rajput community.[11][12]

The Rajput community perceived Rupala's remarks as an insult, considering that the majority of the erstwhile rulers in Gujarat were from their community. Despite Rupala's public apology and request for forgiveness, community leaders continued to demand BJP to remove him from the list of candidates, threatening to vote against the party in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.[13] But high command didn’t change the candidate and continued with Rupala. Despite this he was elected from Rajkot.[2]

Personal life

edit

Rupala married Savitaben in 1979. They have a daughter and one son.

References

edit
  1. ^ "Cabinet Reshuffle: The full list of Modi's new ministers and what they got". The Economic Times. 8 July 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Rupala won as Kshatriya stir polarised voters in favour of BJP: Rajkot Congress president". The Indian Express. 7 June 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  3. ^ "Alphabetical List Of Former Members Of Rajya Sabha Since 1952". Archived from the original on 14 February 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  4. ^ "Detailed Profile - Shri Parshottam Khodabhai Rupala - Members of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) - Who's Who - Government: National Portal of India".
  5. ^ Administrator. "Parshottam Rupala's life sketch".
  6. ^ Administrator. "Polytical History Of Parshottam Rupala".
  7. ^ "BJP's Parshottam Rupala Elected To Rajya Sabha From Gujarat". NDTV.com. 3 June 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  8. ^ "PM Modi allocates portfolios. Full list of new ministers", Live Mint, 31 May 2019
  9. ^ "Parshottam Rupala gets Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying". India Today. 7 August 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  10. ^ India Today (8 July 2021). "Parshottam Rupala gets Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying". Archived from the original on 4 July 2024. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  11. ^ "BJP's Rajkot candidate Parshottam Rupala confident of victory amid protests over his remarks on Kshatriyas". www.indiatvnews.com. 20 April 2024. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  12. ^ "Thakurs Emerge as the Biggest Chink in Modi's Armour". The Wire. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  13. ^ "Why the BJP is not afraid of protests by the Rajput community?". Hindustan Times. 21 April 2024. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying
7 July 2021 – Present
Incumbent
edit