The decision to field Solanki from Junagadh is a result of much brainstorming and thorough analysis, as the party wants to win back its lost grip on Junagadh.
By selecting Dinu Bogha Solanki, the two-time Kodinar MLA and a strong Kardia Rajput leader of Junagadh region as Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) candidate for Junagadh Lok Sabha seat, the party has scripted a new chapter of rising above traditional caste equations.
The decision to field Solanki from Junagadh is a result of much brainstorming and thorough analysis, as the party wants to win back its lost grip on Junagadh which in the previous election had elected Congress candidate Jasu Barad who defeated four-time BJP MP Bhavna Chikhlia.
If party sources are to be believed, BJP wanted to field a strong candidate who could match the formidable Jasu Barad, a popular leader in the region.
“A popular cooperative leader in the region, Solanki is an acceptable candidate among local party workers as well as a massive challenge for Barad,” sources said. “BJP is confident that this inspired selection will help the party win the seat by a huge margin of around 1 lakh votes,” said Lalji Savalia, BJP’s election in-charge for Junagadh seat.
In the 2007 assembly elections, Dinu Solanki had defeated Laxman Parmar with a margin of 32,034 votes in Kodinar.
Another interesting aspect that has emerged is that both the parties have risen above caste bias while selecting their respective candidates.
BJP’s choice Solanki belongs to the Kardia Rajput community which has a population of only 1.15 lakh in the Lok Sabha constituency, while 2.5 lakh Patels have a strong presence in the area followed by Kolis with 2.25 lakh and 2 lakh upper caste votes.
On the other hand, Congress’s Barad is a member of the Ahir community which has around 90,000 population in the constituency.
According to BJP sources, it is also for the first time that the party has transgressed another tradition by not giving tickets to Patel candidates in five out of six seats in Saurashtra region, as practised for long. In five out of six seats in the region — Porbandar, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Amreli and Rajkot - the party always allotted tickets to Patel community members, and only the Bhavnagar seat is an exception, where Rajendrasinh Rana, a kshatriya, has been contesting the elections for the last four times.
However, by not giving a ticket this time to Patel candidate and four-time MP Bhavna Chikhalia, the party has broken the age-old tradition.
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