With eye on hat-trick, Bharat Solanki strikes personal chord with rural voters

As the nation is halfway through the nine-phase election, Borsad – in Anand parliamentary constituency and a town with historic connection to India’s freedom struggle – appears cool despite mercury running high in political circles.

The absence of banners, hoardings, flags and the hustle and bustle of party workers makes one wonder if it is that very town where a two-time member of parliament, Congress leader and a sitting minister in the UPA Government, Bharat Solanki resides.

Solanki’s house in Ishwar Krupa society is a residence-cum-party office. His major poll campaign is the ‘Jan Sampark Yatra’, which has covered 180-200 villages and will cover 150 more by April 23.

Jan Sampark Yatra On Wednesday morning, about an hour before the scheduled departure of the yatra at 9 o’clock, Solanki is seen in the courtyard offering ‘jal’ to the Sun God. The yatra began an hour late but not before the son of former Gujarat Chief Minister and Congress stalwart Madhavsinh Solanki performed a quick havan inside the house. Starting off with seven vehicles, Solanki’s motorcade appears to be modest considering his mass appeal. But by noon the motorcade swells into a large rally with supporters from a number of villages joining-in on two-wheelers and in cars.

Solanki made a conscious decision not to address large public rallies; instead he chose to visit almost every village to strike a rapport with the voters. The rural vote decides the verdict as the lone urban centre in the region – Anand town – has only 16 per cent of total voters.

“We cover 20-22 villages each day. This allows me to interact with them personally,” Solanki, Union Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation, tells Business Line .

Solanki puts personal relations over political connections. It is visible as he strikes a personal chord by calling some individuals by their first names and interacting with them. Out of the total 14.9 lakh voters, around 13 per cent is Muslim; kshatriya and Other Backward Castes combined are over 60 per cent; Patels and Brahmins are 16.5 and two per cent respectively.

Solanki makes it a point to bow at every place of religious worship, be it a temple or a dargah in the village.

Competition The opposition BJP has fielded its sitting MLA and a known Patel face, Dilip Manibhai Patel. Insiders feel that Patel would be able to influence only the urban voters, while rural votes would remain with Solanki. Also, Anand has been a Congress strong-hold for long; the party has lost only thrice since 1957.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded a resident of Anand town, Ravji Parmar.

The Congress doesn’t consider either BJP or the AAP as competition. To Solanki, it is the legacy of Sardar and his freedom struggle from this region that laid a strong foundation for the party. While the UPA is struggling to manage a third term, Solanki seems to be sure of a hat-trick this time.

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