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{{Use Indian English|date=December 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}
[[File:Maniben Patel.jpg|thumb|355x355px|Patel in October 1947]]
'''Maniben Patel''' (3 April 1903 — 26 March 1990) was an [[Indian independence movement]] activist and a Member of the [[Indian parliament]].<ref name="Chopra1993">{{cite book | author=Joginder Kumar Chopra | title=Women in the Indian parliament: a critical study of their role | year=1993 | publisher=Mittal Publications | isbn=978-81-7099-513-5 | page=174}}</ref> She was the daughter of [[Freedom fighters of India|freedom fighter]] and post-Independence [[India]]n leader [[Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel]]. Educated in [[Mumbai|Bombay]], Patel adopted the teachings of [[Mahatma Gandhi]] in 1918, and started working regularly at [[Sabarmati Ashram|his ashram]] in [[Ahmedabad]].

==Early life==
Patel was born on 3 April 1903 at [[Karamsad|Karamasad]], [[Bombay Presidency]], [[British Raj|British India]]. She lost her mother when she was 6 years of age. She was brought up by her uncle [[Vithalbhai Patel|Vitthalbhai Patel]]. She completed her early education at [[Queen Mary School, Mumbai|Queen Mary High School]] in [[Bombay]]. In 1920 she moved to Ahmedabad and attended the university of [[Gujarat Vidyapith|Rashtriya Vidhyapith]] started by [[Mahatma Gandhi]]. After graduating in 1925, Patel went on to assist her father.<ref name="Women Pioneers In India's Renaissance">{{cite book | url=http://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/details/women-pioneers-in-india-s-renaissance-IDD677/ | title=Women Pioneers In India's Renaissance | publisher=National Book Trust, India | author=Sushila Nayar, Kamla Mankekar (Editors) | year=2003 | pages=469 | isbn=81-237-3766 1}}</ref>

== 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.<ref name="Women Pioneers In India's Renaissance"/>

==Bardoli Satyagrah==

Exorbitant taxation was levied by the British authorities on the peasants of [[Bardoli]] in 1928 and they endured similar harassment to those of [[Borsad]]. Mahatma Gandhi directed Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to take leadership of the [[Bardoli Satyagraha|Satyagrah]]. Initially women were reluctant to join the movement. Patel, along with [[Mithuben Petit]] and Bhaktiba Desai, motivated women who ultimately outnumbered men in the movement. As part of the protest they stayed in huts erected on land confiscated by the government.<ref name="Women Pioneers In India's Renaissance"/>

==Rajkot Satyagrah==
During 1938, a Satyagrah was planned against the unjust rule of the Diwan of [[Rajkot State]]. [[Kasturba Gandhi]] was keen to join the Satyagrah despite her poor health and Patel accompanied her. The government passed an order to separate the women. Patel went on a hunger strike against the order and authorities allowed her to reunite with Kasturba Gandhi.<ref name="Women Pioneers In India's Renaissance"/>

== Non-cooperation movement ==
[[File:Mahatma Gandhi and Manibehn Patel before his departure to Europe, 1931.jpg|thumbnail|[[Mahatma Gandhi]] and Maniben Patel before his departure to Europe, 1931.]]

She participated in the [[Non-Cooperation Movement]] as well as the [[Salt Satyagraha]] and was imprisoned for long periods of time. In the 1930s she became her father's aide, also caring for his personal needs. However, because Maniben Patel was committed to the liberation of India, and thus the [[Quit India movement]], she was again imprisoned from 1942 to 1945 in [[Yerwada Central Jail]]. Maniben Patel served her father closely until his death in 1950. After moving to Mumbai, she worked for the rest of her life with numerous charitable organizations and for the [[Sardar Patel Memorial Trust]]. She went on to author an account of the freedom struggle as a book on her father's life in the years following Indian Independence.

== Principles ==

Patel always ensured that her and her father's clothes were weaved from [[khadi]] threads which were spun by her. She always insisted on travelling in third class.<ref name="Women Pioneers In India's Renaissance"/>

== Electoral career ==
* 1952 : Won South Kaira (a.k.a. [[Kheda (Lok Sabha constituency)|Kheda]]) Lok Sabha seat in General Elections, as Congress candidate
* 1957 : Won [[Anand (Lok Sabha constituency)|Anand]] Lok Sabha seat in General Elections, as Congress candidate defeated Amin Dadubhai Mulji<ref>{{cite web |title=Statistical Report General Election Archive, 1957 (Vol I, II) |url=https://eci.gov.in/files/file/4112-general-election-1957-vol-i-ii/ |publisher=Election Commission of India |accessdate=9 November 2020}}</ref>
* 1962 : Lost to Narendrasinh Ranjithsinh Mahida of [[Swatantra Party]] from [[Anand (Lok Sabha constituency)|Anand Lok Sabha Seat]], as Congress' candidate<ref>{{cite web |title=Statistical Report General Election Archive, 1962 (Vol I, II) |url=https://eci.gov.in/files/file/4113-general-election-1962-vol-i-ii/ |publisher=Election Commission of India |accessdate=9 November 2020}}</ref>
* 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 <ref>https://theprint.in/opinion/the-political-dynasty-nobody-is-talking-about-sardar-patels/142422/</ref>
* 1977 : Won [[Mahesana (Lok Sabha constituency)|Mehsana]] Lok Sabha seat in General Elections defeating Natvarlal Amratlal Patel, as [[Janata Party]] candidate<ref>{{cite web |title=Statistical Report General Election Archive, 1973 (Vol I, II) |url=https://eci.gov.in/files/file/4116-general-election-1977-vol-i-ii/ |publisher=Election Commission of India |accessdate=9 November 2020}}</ref>

== 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|Indian National congress]] led by Nehru in the first [[Lok Sabha]] (1952–57) from South Kaira constituency,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/LS_1951/VOL_1_51_LS.PDF |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2014-06-02 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140404203355/http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/LS_1951/VOL_1_51_LS.PDF |archivedate=4 April 2014 }}</ref> and in the second Lok Sabha (1957–62) from [[Anand (Lok Sabha constituency)|Anand]].<ref>http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/LS_1957/Vol_I_57_LS.pdf</ref> 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 [[Indian National Congress|Congress Party]], but it was likely because she decided to stay with [[Indian National Congress (Organisation)|NCO (Congress-O)]] when the party split in 1969. Her brother [[Dahyabhai Patel]] was a member of Mumbai [[Mahanagar palika|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 (Lok Sabha constituency)|Sabarkantha]], defeating Shantubhai Patel of Congress by a narrow margin.

She was elected to [[Lok Sabha]] from [[Mehsana (Lok Sabha constituency)|Mehsana]] on the [[Janata party]] ticket in 1977.<ref name="Member of Parliament">{{Cite web | title=Lok Sabha Website Members Biodata | url=http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/biodata_1_12/920.htm | accessdate=2015-08-02 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311221834/http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/biodata_1_12/920.htm | archive-date=11 March 2016 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

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 Trust|Navajivan Publications]].<ref name="toi">{{cite news
| url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-06-08/ahmedabad/29633667_1_diary-sardar-vallabhbhai-patel-vallabh-vidyanagar
| archive-url=https://archive.today/20120708114856/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-06-08/ahmedabad/29633667_1_diary-sardar-vallabhbhai-patel-vallabh-vidyanagar
| url-status=dead
| archive-date=8 July 2012
| title=Knowing Sardar Patel through his daughter's diary
| work=[[The Times of India]]
| date=8 June 2011
| accessdate=2013-06-02
| author=Vashi, Ashish
| location=[[Ahmedabad]]}}</ref><ref name="tribune">{{cite news
| title=Patel's Legacy
| url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20010930/spectrum/main1.htm
| newspaper=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]]
| author=Datta, V. N.
| date=30 September 2001
| accessdate=2013-06-02}}</ref>

==Works==
* ''Inside Story of Sardar Patel: The Diary of Maniben Patel, 1936-50'', by Manibahen Patel. Ed. Prabha Chopra. Vision Books, 2001. {{ISBN|81-7094-424-4}}.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Maniben Patel}}
*[http://www.abhilekh-patal.in/jspui/handle/123456789/2742760 Condolence letter from Horace Alexander to Maniben on her father's death (1950). National Archives of India]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Patel, Maniben}}
[[Category:1903 births]]
[[Category:1990 deaths]]
[[Category:1st Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:2nd Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:5th Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:6th Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian biographers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women writers]]
[[Category:Bharatiya Lok Dal politicians]]
[[Category:English-language writers from India]]
[[Category:Founders of Indian schools and colleges]]
[[Category:Indian women philanthropists]]
[[Category:Indian independence activists from Gujarat]]
[[Category:Indian National Congress politicians from Gujarat]]
[[Category:Indian philanthropists]]
[[Category:Indian women activists]]
[[Category:Indian women non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Janata Party politicians]]
[[Category:Lok Sabha members from Gujarat]]
[[Category:People from Nadiad]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of British India]]
[[Category:Quit India Movement]]
[[Category:Rajya Sabha members from Gujarat]]
[[Category:Vallabhbhai Patel]]
[[Category:Women biographers]]
[[Category:Women in Gujarat politics]]
[[Category:Women Indian independence activists]]
[[Category:Women writers from Gujarat]]
[[Category:Women members of the Lok Sabha]]
[[Category:Women members of the Rajya Sabha]]

Maniben Patel - Revision history

->Snowolf at 00:08, 6 October 2021