Suresh Mehta is a politician and the former chief minister of the Indian state of Gujarat from 1995 to 1996.
Political Career :
He hails from Kutch region of Gujarat. He was a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Keshubhai Patel led the BJP to win in the 1995 assembly election and became chief minister in March. He served as a minister under Keshubhai Patel. Patel resigned in October 1995 as their colleague Shankersinh Vaghela revolted against him. Consequently, Suresh Mehta was sworn in as Chief Minister in October 1995 and served till September 1996. But the BJP was split as the Rashtriya Janta Party was formed by Vaghela. He resigned and President's rule was imposed. He again served as an industry minister under Patel when the BJP returned to power in the 1998 assembly elections. Patel resigned in 2001 following allegations of a loss of BJP seats in by-elections and mismanagement in relief woks during the aftermath of the Bhuj earthquake. Narendra Modi succeeded Patel under whom Mehta had reservations to serve as a minister but served until 2002.He opposed leadership of Narendra Modi and quit BJP on December 8, 2007 before Gujarat legislative assembly election, 2007. Later he joined Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP) founded by former chief minister Keshubhai Patel. He opposed decision when GPP merged with BJP again in February, 2014 and left the party.