Anandiben Mafatbhai Patel (born 21 November 1941) is an Indian politician serving as the current Governor of Uttar Pradesh. She also served as the Governor of Madhya Pradesh and was the first female Chief Minister of Gujarat. She has been a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since 1987. She served as Cabinet Minister for Education from 2002 to 2007 and as Cabinet Minister for Roads and Buildings, Revenue, Urban Development and Urban Housing, Disaster Management, and Capital Projects in the Government of Gujarat from 2007 to 2014.

Anandiben’s entry into politics stemmed from a dramatic incident during a school picnic. In 1987, she jumped into the Sardar Sarovar reservoir to save two drowning girls. For this act of bravery, she was awarded by the President, and the BJP later invited her to join. Initially hesitant, she was persuaded by Keshubhai Patel and Narendra Modi to join as Gujarat Pradesh Mahila Morcha President in 1987.

She attended N.M. High School, which had only three girl students at the time. An excellent athlete, she was a district-level champion for three consecutive years. She began her BSc in 1960 at M.G. Panchal Science College in Pilvai, excelling academically and earning the “Veer Bala” award in Mehsana for athletics. After completing her bachelor’s degree in science in Visnagar, she married Mafatbhai Patel in 1962.

Anandiben Patel was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat in 1994. As an MP, she represented India at the Fourth World Women’s Conference in Beijing (1994–95) and visited Bulgaria with BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lok Sabha Speaker P. A. Sangma. She resigned from the Rajya Sabha in 1998, contested her first assembly election from the Mandvi constituency, and won, becoming Education Minister under Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel.

In her first term as Education Minister, Patel launched “Lok Darbar” to address school-related issues. Under her leadership, the state government introduced “Shala Praveshotsav” to boost school enrollment—a flagship program that continues today—resulting in a 100% increase. In her first two years, she recruited 26,000 teachers for long-vacant positions, reduced corruption in teacher transfers, and established a school for children with disabilities.