Crime and Punishment — Grist behind the rise of Solanki bro

Their father, Odhavji Solanki, tilled farms in Dhara Bandar in remote Amreli. The family, from the backward Koli community, would have remained poor peasants had it not been for their eldest son Purshottam, who nursed a burning desire to become rich and powerful.

“Purshottam had no interest in farming. He wanted real bucks and he wanted to be known,” says a friend in neighbouring Rajula taluka.

The eldest among the three brothers, Purshottam was hot-tempered and was frequently involved in fights and quarrels. “But, right from the beginning he displayed leadership qualities. He was used by many politicians to garner the Koli votes,” say sources in Bhavangar BJP.

By this time, he had also graduated into land deals and getting encroached lands `vacated’ for a price. Soon, he and his gang members formed a ring and would strike wherever big land deals were taking place. “In an auction of prime land, Solanki’s goons would threaten bidders to withdraw from the auction. If it was bigger deal they would form a ring ensuring the land was sold to one of them only,” police say.

The last known big land deal made by Purshottam Solanki was during the auction of the historic Jehangir Mills of Bhavnagar where the `ring’ of Solanki, allegedly supported by Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel’s son Bharat Patel, bought the mill for nearly Rs 2 crore.

However, Amreli was too small a place for Purshottam Solanki to realise his dreams. So he migrated to Mumbai in the mid-eighties where he found a foothold in the construction business. Also, it was here that Solanki learnt his first lessons in the booming cable network business. He burnt his fingers trying to break in there because the cable sharks were too big for him.

His affluence grew, but his attachment to Saurashtra, especially Jafrabad, beckoned him back. When he returned in 1995, he made Bhavnagar his home where he did what he wanted to in Mumbai set up a cable network.Starting from a small office with 100-odd connections, Solanki’s So Lucky Cable network (SLC) now covers 70 per cent of Bhavnagar city.

“Few people dare to set up cable networks in the city against SLC,” says a police officer in Bhavnagar. Soon, Purshottam’s youngest brother Bharat Solanki took over the cable business. Initially, when some cable operators tried to start business, Solanki’s men would threaten them. If things hotted up they would cut the cable wires and damage equipment of the rivals.

All this time, Purshottam Solanki cultivated the support of his Koli community. “His chance to enter politics came when former Chief Minister Shankersinh Vaghela sought his support to topple the Keshubhai Patel Government in 1995. Besides funding Vaghela, Solanki also helped him keep his flock of 30-odd rebel MLAs together by accommodating them at his Sea View hotel in Diu. He also joined Vaghela’s Rashtriya Janta Party (RJP). However, after his sojourn with Vaghela, Solanki switched over to the BJP which was desperate for a winning candidate from Ghogha constitunecy in 1998. He won and became a minister, though he has as many as eight criminal cases pending against him in various Mumbai police stations.

Solanki got a ticket for his second brother Hirabhai Solanki, who is a respected elder in the Koli community. “It is surprising but true, there is not a single police complaint against Hirabhai in any of the police stations in the two years since he has been elected,” an Amreli police officer says.

Bharat Solanki, the youngest brother has been cause for many a skirmish in the family. Enjoying unbridled power with one brother a minister and another an MLA, Bharat Solanki got the best of both of worlds. Besides ruling Bhavnagar in the cable network business, he ventured into land deals and encroachments in Bhavnagar. Today, he has nine criminal cases pending against him in various courts in Mumbai and Gujarat.