Amarsinh Chaudhary
8th Chief Minister of Gujarat
In office
6 July 1985 – 9 December 1989
Preceded byMadhav Singh Solanki
Succeeded byMadhav Singh Solanki
Personal details
Born(1941-07-31)31 July 1941
Surat, Bombay Presidency, British India
Died15 August 2004(2004-08-15) (aged 63)
Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Political partyIndian National Congress
Spouse(s)Gajraben and Nisha Gameti
ChildrenTushar Chaudhary, Tejas Chaudhary & Pragnesh Chaudhary

Amarsinh Bhilabhai Chaudhary (31 July 1941 – 15 August 2004) was an Indian politician. He became the first adivasi to serve as the Chief Minister of Gujarat when he took office in 1985.[1]

Career

Chaudhary was a civil engineer and served as government employee for short time. He became a Member of Legislative Assembly from Radhanpur Constituency in 1970. He became a junior minister under Ghanshyam Oza in 1972 and later served as minister in subsequent cabinets. He was elected to Gujarat Vidhan Sabha from Vyara in 1985, and was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 1985 to 1989. In 1990 Vidhan Sabha elections, he lost to his namesake Amarsinh (Zinabhai) Chaudhary, an independent candidate, from Vyara (Vidhan Sabha constituency). Amarsinh Zinabhai Chaudhary had been elected to Lok Sabha in 1971 from Mandvi on Congress ticket. Amarsinh (Bhilabhai) Chaudhary later served as President of the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee between June 2001 and July 2002. In 2002, he was elected to Gujarat Vidhan Sabha from Khedbrahma constituency, and was elected leader of the Congress Legislature Party and leader of opposition in Gujarat Legislative Assembly.[2] He died in the middle of this term.

Personal life

Amarsinh Chaudhary was married to Gajraben and the couple had 3 children. In 1991, he married his companion Nisha Gameti without divorcing his first wife, and this caused a controversy with his first wife calling Nisha 'a venomous lady'. Nisha, on her part, had divorced her husband, with whom she had two children, in 1990.[3]

His second wife Nisha Chaudhary was elected to Lok Sabha from Sabarkantha thrice in 1990s. She died in 2001. After her death, he refused to contest Lok Sabha election in 2004, saying that he wanted to stay in Gujarat politics. He died a few weeks after the Lok Sabha election.[4]

Politician Tushar Amarsinh Chaudhary is his son.

Death

Chaudhary was admitted to a hospital in Ahmedabad on 24 July 2004 for severe liver and kidney complications. He died of cardiac arrest on 15 August 2004 after a prolonged illness.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Spodek, Howard (1989). "From Gandhi to Violence: Ahmedabad's 1985 Riots in Historical Perspective". Modern Asian Studies. 23 (4): 771–773. doi:10.1017/S0026749X00010209.
  2. 1 2 Dasgupta, Manas (16 August 2004). "Amarsinh's death, an irreparable loss to State". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 12 September 2004.
  3. ↑ Mahijrkar 15, Uday. "Former Gujarat CM Amarsinh Chaudhary's second marriage creates a stir". India Today. Retrieved 6 September 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ Shah, Rajiv Jagubhai. "'I was against Vaghela only on principle' | Ahmedabad News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 6 September 2021.


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