Hitendra Kanaiyalal Desai
Hitendra Kanaiyalal Desai was the Chief Minister of Gujarat and a leader of Indian National Congress and later Indian National Congress.Desai was born in Surat. As a student, he took leading part in debates, sports and other activities at School and College. In 1941-42, he was arrested during the ‘Quit India’ freedom Movement for offering individual Satyagrah and went to jail for one year. He was Education Minister in the reorganised Bombay state.
Hitendra Desai was the Minister of Law in the ministry headed by Dr. Jivraj Narayan Mehta. He was also Minister for Home and Deputy leader of the House. Later, he was the Chief Minister of the state from 20 September 1965 to 12 May 1971. He decided to side with the syndicate after the expulsion of Indira Gandhi from the Congress. The 1969 Gujarat riots occurred during his administration.
