MUMBAI: A journalist-turned-politician who rose to become one of the tallest leaders of the Congress in Gujarat, holding the chief minister’s post four times and later Union minister twice, Madhavsinh Solanki passed away on Saturday at his residence in Gandhinagar. He was 93 years old. Under Solanki’s leadership, the Congress had won 149 seats out of total 182 in the Assembly in 1985 — a record still unbroken. Even under the Narendra Modi, the BJP’s highest tally in the state has only reached 127.
Solanki was the first Gujarat CM who successfully completed his five-year term in 1985 after separation of Gujarat from Maharashtra. He was also the architect of the KHAM social engineering formula which paid rich dividends for the Congress, but was also blamed for its fall later. Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled his demise.
Born on July 30, 1927, in Pilundra village of Borsad in Anand district, Solanki had started his career as a journalist, then turned as an advocate before taking the political plunge. He was first elected as an MLA from then Bombay state in 1957 when Gujarat and Maharashtra were not separated. He became an MLA of Gujarat Assembly in 1960, after the two states were separated on a linguistic basis. In 1975, Solanki became the president of Gujarat Congress.
His KHAM formula entailed mobilisation of the Kshatriya, Harijan (Dalits), Adivasi (tribals) and Muslim, a formidable electoral combine that kept Solanki and the Congress in power for a long time in Gujarat as the four communities accounted for about 70 per cent of the voter base in Gujarat. However, it alienated the Upper castes, particularly Brahmins and Patels who together makeup about 20 per cent of the state’s electorate.
Solanki is also credited with having started the Mid-Day Meal initiative during his tenure, which was later replicated across the nation successfully and is still in practice today. He had also started the girl child nurturing scheme (Kanya Kelavani) in Gujarat. In 1981, he introduced reservation for socially and economically backward classes based on recommendations of Bakshi Commission.
It resulted in anti-reservation agitation across the state that resulted into riots and deaths of more than 100 people. Solanki resigned in 1985 but later returned to power with a whopping 149 seats, thanks to his KHAM formula. In June 1991, Solanki became the EAM of India. However, he resigned in March 1992 in the wake of a controversy following his meeting with then Switzerland foreign minister in Davos during which he allegedly made some remarks regarding Bofors case probe.