Shankersinh Laxmansinhji Vaghela (born 21 July 1940) is an Indian politician and former Chief Minister of Gujarat. He was the Leader of Opposition in 13th Gujarat Legislative Assembly. Vagela started his political career with the Jana Sangh, which later merged into the Janata Party in 1977. After Janata Party split into various factions, Vaghela became a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In 1996, he broke away from the BJP and formed the Rashtriya Janata Party. He served as the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 1996 to 1997. Later, his party merged with Indian National Congress (Congress). On 21 July 2017, he left congress and resigned from the post of the leader of opposition. He formed new outfit Jan Vikalp Morcha which contested but did not win any of the seats in 2017 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election. He was a member of the Nationalist Congress Party in 2019-20. He has also served as a Member of Parliament, having been elected to the 6th, 9th (1989-1991), 10th, 13th and 14th Lok Sabhas. He was also a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1984 to 1989. He served as the Union Cabinet Minister of Textiles from 2004 to 2009 in the First Manmohan Singh Cabinet. He represented the Kapadvanj constituency in the Gujarat legislative assembly from 2012 to 2017. Personal life Vaghela was born to a Vaghela Koli Laxmansinh and Nathuba on 21 July 1940 in Vasan in Gandhinagar district, in Gujarat. He completed Master of Arts in economics from Gujarat University. Vaghela married Gulab Ba on 9 June 1960, with whom he has three sons. His son Mahendrasinh was MLA from Bayad from 2012 to 2017. Political career Vaghela was an active member of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) before joining Jana Sangh. He was jailed during the Indira Gandhi's Emergency. Janata Party and Bharatiya Janata Party After the Emergency was lifted, he was elected to the 6th Lok Sabha (1977-1979) on a Janata Party ticket from Kapadvanj but lost that seat in 1980 elections. He was the Vice-President of the Janata Party in Gujarat and from 1980 to 1991 he was the General Secretary and President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Gujarat. He was a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1984 to 1989. In 1989 he was elected to the 9th Lok Sabha (1989–91) from Gandhinagar and in 1991 he was re-elected to the 10th Lok