Kodnani began her political career with Ahmedabad civic elections in 1995. She was elected three times from the Naroda constituency as a Member of the Legislative Assembly for the BJP. In 1998, she won the election with a margin of 75,000 votes. In December 2002, shortly after 2002 Gujarat riots, she won by a margin of 110,000 votes. In 2007, her margin increased 180,000 votes. After winning the elections in 2007, she was named as Minister for Women and Child Development of Gujarat in Narendra Modi's BJP government, but resigned from the post in 2009 impending her arrest as accused for the Naroda Patiya massacre.