Maniben Patel

Maniben Patel (24 April 1904 — 26 March 1990) was an Indian politician and daughter of Vallabhbhai Patel. She served as a Member of the Indian parliament. Educated in Bombay, Patel adopted the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi in 1918, and started working regularly at his ashram in Ahmedabad.

She later left Congress and joined opposition Janata Party and won 1977 Lok Sabha seat from Mehsana.

Early life Patel was born on 24 April 1904 at Karamsad, Bombay Presidency, British India. She was brought up by her uncle Vitthalbhai Patel. She completed her early education at Queen Mary High School in Bombay. In 1920 she moved to Ahmedabad and attended the university of Rashtriya Vidhyapith started by Mahatma Gandhi. After graduating in 1925, Patel went on to assist her father.

Borsad movement In 1923–24 the British government levied heavy taxes on the common people and for recovery of the same they started confiscating their cattle, land and property. To protest against this oppression, Maniben motivated women to join a campaign led by Gandhi and Sardar Patel and support the No-Tax Movement. 1962 : Lost to Narendrasinh Ranjithsinh Mahida of Swatantra Party from Anand Lok Sabha Seat, as Congress' candidate 1964 to 1970 : Congress Member of Rajya Sabha 1973 : Entered Lok Sabha winning the by-poll from Sabarkantha as Congress(O) candidate, defeating Shantubhai Patel of Congress 1977 : Won Mehsana Lok Sabha seat in General Elections defeating Natvarlal Amratlal Patel, as Janata Party candidate

Vice president Patel was once Vice President of the Gujarat Provincial Congress Committee. Later, she was elected as a member of the Indian National Congress led by Nehru in the first Lok Sabha (1952–57) from South Kaira constituency, and in the second Lok Sabha (1957–62) from Anand. She was also Secretary (1953–56) and Vice President (1957–64) of Gujarat state Congress. She was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1964 and continued till 1970. Information is lacking on the exact year when she left Congress Party, but it was likely because she decided to stay with NCO (Congress-O) when the party split in 1969. Her brother Dahyabhai Patel was a member of Mumbai Maha-nagar Palika for 18 years and was mayor of Mumbai in 1954. In 1957 he joined Maha Gujarat Janata Parishad and later he joined Swatantra Party. In the early 1970s Dahyabhai was a Rajya Sabha MP with Swatantra Party; both Swatantra Party and NCO (Prime Minister Morarji Desai's Congress group) were powerful in Gujarat during the years 1967–1971. Maniben Patel did not contest the 1971 Lok Sabha polls. She was elected to Lok Sabha in 1973 when she won by-poll from Sabarkantha, defeating Shantubhai Patel of Congress by a narrow margin.

She was elected to Lok Sabha from Mehsana on the Janata party ticket in 1977.

She was connected with several educational institutions including the Gujarat Vidyapith, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Bardoli Swaraj Ashram and Navajivan Trust prior to her death in 1990.

In 2011, the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Memorial Trust undertook a project to publish her Gujarati diary, in collaboration with Navajivan Publications.

Works Inside Story of Sardar Patel: The Diary of Maniben Patel, 1936-50, by Manibahen Patel. Ed. Prabha Chopra. Vision Books, 2001. .