After Vaghela’s resignation, Sunil Solanki quits as BJP Vadodara general secretary citing ‘personal reasons’

In a statement, the party’s city president Vijay Shah said, “Sunil Solanki has been relieved from the post of general secretary of Vadodara after his resignation was accepted by the party.”

On Saturday, even as the news of Solanki’s resignation led to speculations about a ‘crackdown’ on more leaders in the wake of the defamation case being investigated by the Vadodara Crime Branch, an unfazed Solanki continued to meet visitors and colleagues at the BJP’s city headquarters at Manubhai Towers in Sayajigunj.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Solanki said, “I am sitting in the office, wearing a party stole and meeting people… My resignation coming on the same day as that of Pradipsinh Vaghela is a mere coincidence. I had submitted my resignation on July 29 to city president Dr Vijay Shah… The party approved the resignation yesterday and we did not know that it would be at a time when another senior leader has resigned. There is nothing more to read into it.”

Stating that his reasons for quitting were “personal”, Solanki said, “Every person needs to dedicate some time to family and social commitments after a point in life… The decision to quit from the post of an office bearer is only because of that. It does not mean that I would not dedicate my time to the party or perform the duties that the party hands out to me in the future. If they give me another responsibility, I will accept it too. I am what I am because of the BJP and it has given me a public face; I will always remain a member of the BJP.”

Terming the recent developments in the party “unfortunate”, he said, “It is a coincidence that a series of events are happening one after the other, but they are unconnected. What happened in Vadodara and Surat (arrest of three leaders for defaming state party chief C R Paatil) is unfortunate… The BJP has always been a transparent party for its leaders. We have experienced that our state party president Paatil saheb always answers the phone personally. When he cannot, he calls back too.”

“So if anyone has a grievance, they can approach him directly rather than taking to surreptitious acts that damage the party’s image. It is natural that genuine resignations of leaders at such times will also raise questions…But my loyalty will remain with the BJP,” Solanki added.

Recently, the Surat Crime Branch arrested three BJP workers from south Gujarat for allegedly defaming state party president C R Paatil by accusing him of graft in the allocation of portfolios to various party leaders.

Vaghela’s resignation came to light on Saturday, following which he said the party had asked him to step down as general secretary.