Alpesh Thakor is a politician from
Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the nin ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
. He is a member of the
Gujarat Legislative Assembly
Gujarat Legislative Assembly or Gujarat Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Gujarat, in the state capital Gandhinagar. Presently, 182 members of the Legislative Assembly are directly elected from single-member co ...
from
Gandhinagar South. He was earlier a member representing
Radhanpur
Radhanpur is a town and a municipality in Patan district in the Indian state of Gujarat.
Origin of name
According to the tradition, the city is named after Radhan Khan, a descendant of Fateh Khan Baloch. Fateh Khan Baloch received a freedom fro ...
(2017–2019). Formerly associated with the
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British ...
party, he joined
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the List of ruling p ...
in 2019. He started his career as a social worker and political activist. He is a leader of the
Koli
Koli may refer to:
Places
* Koli, Finland, a hill in Finland
* Koli National Park, a national park in Finland
* Koli, Iran (disambiguation), several places in Iran
* Koli Airfield, a former airfield in the South Pacific
Other uses
* Koli people ...
community in Gujarat. He founded the ''Gujarat Kshatriya Thakor Sena'' as well as ''
OBC,
SC,
ST Ekta Manch'' (OBC, SC, ST unity forum), a social platform to demand
reservations for people of the respective communities, around which a movement took place in Gujarat shortly after the
Patidar reservation agitation
Starting in July 2015, the people of India's Patidar community, seeking Other Backward Class (OBC) status, held public demonstrations across the Indian state of Gujarat.
The largest demonstration was held in Ahmedabad on 25 August 2015, and w ...
.
ALPESH
Gujarat Kshatriya Thakor Sena
Thakor founded the Kshatriya Thakor Sena in 2011. He has led many movements for the rights of the
Thakor
Thakor also known as Thakarda is subcaste of Koli community of Gujarat. Koli forms the largest caste-cluster, comprising 24% of the total population of the state. Koli Thakors in Gujarat placed in Other Backward Class including all of the Koli ...
community in Gujarat. In 2016, he floated a movement to rid the members of his community from
liquor
Liquor (or a spirit) is an alcoholic drink produced by distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar, that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. Other terms for liquor include: spirit drink, distilled beverage or ha ...
addiction. He has also demanded stricter laws against illegal trading of alcoholic drinks in Gujarat. The Kshatriya Thakor Sena has around 700,000 members as of October 2017. Rameshji Thakor, the former state vice-president of the Gujarat Kshatriya Thakor Sena, split from Alpesh Thakor to form his own outfit. He formed the Royal Kshatriya Thakor Sena in 2013 and was elected as the president of his society.
OSS Ekta Manch
Thakor comes from the
Thakor
Thakor also known as Thakarda is subcaste of Koli community of Gujarat. Koli forms the largest caste-cluster, comprising 24% of the total population of the state. Koli Thakors in Gujarat placed in Other Backward Class including all of the Koli ...
community in Gujarat. He rose to prominence and media attention after he launched a movement to counter the
Patidar reservation agitation
Starting in July 2015, the people of India's Patidar community, seeking Other Backward Class (OBC) status, held public demonstrations across the Indian state of Gujarat.
The largest demonstration was held in Ahmedabad on 25 August 2015, and w ...
by
Hardik Patel
Hardik Patel (born 20 July 1993) is an Indian politician and social activist. He rose to prominence in July 2015, where he led the Patidar reservation agitation that sought Other Backward Class (OBC) status for the Patidar caste.
He joined the ...
. He founded the OSS (OBC, SC, ST) Ekta Manch to unite all people of these communities for demanding reservation according to population of the particular community. He also said that the hidden motive behind the Patidar agitations is nothing but a gameplan to scrape the reservation system, and that his movement will counter it to 'protect their constitutional right'. Thakor was arrested in September 2015 along with many others for organizing a meeting of all OBC communities in
Mehsana
Mehsana (), also spelled Mahesana, is a city and municipality in Mehsana district, in the Indian state of Gujarat. Established in 14th century, the city was under Gaekwads of Baroda State from 18th century to the independence of India in 194 ...
district.
Politics
On 23 October 2017, Thakor joined the
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British ...
party. He contested and won from
Radhanpur
Radhanpur is a town and a municipality in Patan district in the Indian state of Gujarat.
Origin of name
According to the tradition, the city is named after Radhan Khan, a descendant of Fateh Khan Baloch. Fateh Khan Baloch received a freedom fro ...
constituency in the
2017 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election.
He had demanded the justice of a minor rape survivor in October 2018. The rape incident had triggered the
attacks on the Hindi-speaking migrants in Gujarat later. On 9 April 2019 he quit the Indian National Congress
and joined
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the List of ruling p ...
on 18 July 2019. He contested legislative assembly bypoll from
Radhanpur
Radhanpur is a town and a municipality in Patan district in the Indian state of Gujarat.
Origin of name
According to the tradition, the city is named after Radhan Khan, a descendant of Fateh Khan Baloch. Fateh Khan Baloch received a freedom fro ...
in October 2019 and lost by margin of 3500 votes. In the
2022 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election
Legislative Assembly election was held in Gujarat from 1 to 5 December 2022 in two phases, to elect 182 members of 15th Gujarat Legislative Assembly. The votes were counted and the results were declared on 8 December 2022.
The Bharatiya Jana ...
, he contested from
Gandhinagar South and won by a margin of 43,064 votes.
Personal life
He is married to Kiran, who is from a
Trivedi
Trivedi is a Northern and Western family name from India reflecting the mastery over three of the four vedas (including the Vedic Branch he was born into). In Sanskrit Trivedi means 'one that knows the three Vedas’, from tri = 'three' + veda ...
Brahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests ( purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers ( ...
family.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thakor, Alpesh
Koli people
1975 births
Living people
Political activists
Indian National Congress politicians from Gujarat
Activists from Gujarat
Gujarat MLAs 2017–2022
Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Gujarat