Vajubhai Vala

Indian politician

Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala
12th Governor of Karnataka
In office
1 September 2014 – 10 July 2021
Chief MinisterSiddaramaiah
H. D. Kumaraswamy
B. S. Yediyurappa
Preceded byKonijeti Rosaiah
Succeeded byThawar Chand Gehlot
Speaker of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly
In office
23 January 2012 – 31 August 2014
Preceded byGanpat Vasava
Succeeded byMangubhai C. Patel (acting)
Member of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly
In office
July 1985 – February 2002
Preceded byManibhai Ranpara
Succeeded byNarendra Modi
In office
December 2002 – 31 August 2014
Preceded byNarendra Modi
Succeeded byVijay Rupani
ConstituencyRajkot West
Personal details
Born (1937-01-23) 23 January 1937 (age 87)[1]
Rajkot, Rajkot State, British India (present-day Gujarat, India)
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party
SpouseManoramabahen
Children2 daughters, 2 sons
EducationBachelor of Science,
Bachelor of Laws
Signature
As of 31 August, 2014
Source: [1]

Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala (born 23 January 1937) is an Indian statesman who was the 12th Governor of Karnataka from 1 September 2014 to 6 July 2021.[2] He is also the longest-serving governor for Karnataka after Khurshed Alam Khan.[3]

Vajubhai served as the Speaker of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly from 2012 to 2014. He is still a member of Bharatiya Janata Party. He served as a Cabinet Minister in the Government of Gujarat, holding various portfolios, such as finance, labour and employment, from 1997 to 2012. He was elected to Gujarat Legislative Assembly from Rajkot West constituency multiple times.

Career

Vala started his political career at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and subsequently joined Jan Sangh in 1971. He was jailed for eleven months during the emergency in 1975.[4] He was the Mayor of Rajkot in the 1980s. Later he contested state assembly elections from Rajkot and served as the Cabinet Minister holding finance, revenue portfolios from 1998 to 2012. He was the finance minister for two terms. He holds the record of presenting budget in Gujarat Legislative Assembly; 18 times as the finance minister. He was elected as the Speaker of assembly in December 2012 and served till August 2014. He was appointed as the Governor of Karnataka in September 2014.[2][5][6][7][8][9][10]

Vala has also been closely associated with Rajkot Nagarik Sahakari Bank, where he planned, organised and developed the banking service. He was also the Chairman of the bank for five years on-and-off during 1975-90 period.[11]

Controversy

Vala was involved in a controversy during the 2018 Karnataka Legislative Assembly elections. He invited the largest party, Bharatiya Janata Party to form the government and not the largest post poll alliance consisting of the Indian National Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular). He also gave the new Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa 15 days to prove his majority in the house. His decision was vehemently opposed by all non-BJP alliance parties in the nation, and the INC approached the Supreme Court in this matter. Supreme court decreed that in case when no coalition/party has clear majority, the governor of the state has the legal power to decide who forms the government in that state. But, the same court shortened the 15 day time limit given by Vala to Yeddyurappa to prove majority, into just 3 days, and also mandated that the house proceeding including vote should be telecast live. Yeddyurappa resigned after the house convened, citing that he could not muster the majority. Kumaraswamy of Janata Dal was invited to become the new Chief Minister. However, 14 months later, Kumaraswamy's government collapsed. Later Yeddyurappa easily managed to sail through with 106 BJP MLAs.[12][13] [14]

References

  1. ^ "Raj Bhavan Karnataka". Archived from the original on 25 August 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala to take oath as Karnataka Guv on Sept 1". One India News. 30 August 2014. Archived from the original on 10 September 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  3. ^ "Vajubhai vala becomes the 2nd longest serving governor", The Hindu, 7 July 2021
  4. ^ "'Paniwala Mayor' reinducted into Narendra Modi cabinet". One India. 13 December 2006. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  5. ^ Balan, Premal (23 January 2013). "Vaju Vala unanimously elected new speaker of Gujarat Assembly". Business Standard. Gandhinagar. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  6. ^ "Vaju Vala named 'pro tem' Speaker of Gujarat Assembly". Zee News. PTI. 26 December 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  7. ^ "Vaju Vala named 'pro tem' Speaker". Indian Express. Press Trust of India. 27 December 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  8. ^ "177 sworn in as MLAs". The Times of India. TNN. 23 January 2012. Archived from the original on 16 February 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  9. ^ "Narendra Modi aide Vajubhai Vala is Karnataka governor". The Times of India. TNN. 27 August 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  10. ^ "Karnataka's Governor Vajubhai Vala hails RSS,says posts don't matter". TNN. 26 August 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  11. ^ "Karnataka Election Results 2018: Here's all you need to know about Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala". Moneycontrol. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  12. ^ Wu, Huizhong. "India's BJP forms new government in Karnataka -- for now". CNN. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  13. ^ Chaturvedi, Rakesh Mohan (18 May 2018). "Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala not alone in giving 15 days to prove majority". The Economic Times. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  14. ^ "How BJP has been outplaying Congress to form govt in states where it lacked majority".

External links

  • Media related to Vajubhai Vala at Wikimedia Commons
  • Gujarat government