Keshubhai Patel
A farmer's son who served twice as chief minister of Gujarat and as a member of both houses of Parliament, honoured posthumously with the Padma Bhushan in 2021.
Keshubhai Patel served twice as chief minister of Gujarat, and was a member of both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha. He was named for the Padma Bhushan posthumously in 2021 in the field of public affairs, from Gujarat [1].
Early life
Patel was born on 24 July 1928 into a poor farming family [2]. His schooling stopped at Class 10, and as a young man he earned his living doing manual work [2].
Offices
He entered public life in the 1960s as a member of the municipality, where he became leader of the opposition [2]. He was a Gujarat cabinet minister from 1975 to 1980, holding agriculture and irrigation, and in that role oversaw the building of hundreds of dams for irrigation [2]. He was elected to the Gujarat assembly seven times and became deputy chief minister in 1990 [2].
He became chief minister in 1995 [2]. As chief minister he started the Gokulgram Yojana to bring drinking water and better roads to villages [2]. For 12 years he was chairman of the Somnath Temple Trust, a post he held until his death [2].
Keshubhai Patel died on 29 October 2020 [2].
Sources
- [1] Padma Awards 2021: list of awardees — Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Accessed 24 October 2026.
- [2] Padma Awards 2021: citation for Keshubhai Patel — Padma Awards, Government of India. Accessed 24 October 2026.
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