Gopal Italia

Gopal Italia (born 21 July 1989) is an Indian politician and a social activist. Since December 2020, he is the state president of Aam Aadmi Party in Gujarat.
Early life
Gopal was born on 21 July 1989 in Botad in Gujarat, India. He completed his primary studies at Timbi village in Umrala Taluka of Bhavnagar district and his secondary studies at Dhola village. He graduated from Gujarat University, Ahmedabad with a degree in Political Science.
Career
From January 2013, Italia worked as a constable in Madhupura Police Station in Ahmedabad Police, then in 2014 as a Revenue Clerk in Ahmedabad Collectorate. After being fired from government jobs, he campaigned for the rights of unemployed youth as well as the rights of citizens.
Social activism
Italia was an activist close to Hardik Patel during the Patidar reservation agitation 2015. He visited many villages to solve the legal problems of the citizens and made them aware of the Indian constitution and the law.
He phoned Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel over the strict ban on alcohol, an audio clip of which went viral on social media. The one minute long clip caused a massive embarrassment in the state government, because he claimed to be a constable and alleged that senior officers were preventing lower cadre officers from enforcing prohibition laws. Later he was charged under Section 120 of the Indian Penal Code.
In 2017, he threw a shoe at State Home Minister Pradipsinh Jadeja in the midst of a difficult time in government duty and an outcry against government policies. In 2019, Gopal was arrested under the Arms Act for shooting a plastic gun in farm.
Politics
In June 2020, Gopal started his political career as the State Vice President of Aam Aadmi Party, Gujarat. He was appointed the State President of the party on 12 December 2020. In 2021, Italia met with the protest by members of a local religious body during his visit to the Somnath temple because of the comments against Hindu rituals he made in a video recorded about five years ago. He blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party for the protests and also apologized for the comments.

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