Congress may be in disarray in Gujarat, but the Chavda-Solanki clan remains invincible in Borsad, reports Hitesh Ankleshwaria
In Borsad town of Gujarat's Anand district, the Congress party office still has a Gandhian air. Situated in the heart of the town, the office is spartan. If the building did not have a signboard, one may have mistaken it for an old-fashioned business office with the seth (owner) sitting cross-legged behind a sloping desk attending to the day’s work. Just about anyone, even a beggar looking for food, is free to walk in and air his thoughts before Amit Chavda, local MLA and cousin of Bharatsinh Solanki, Union minister of state for energy. This is exactly how Ishwar Chavda, called Dada or elder brother, used to function in the past.
The history of Anand district is very interesting. It is the country's milk capital. Politically, the region has been dominated by the Congress and the Chavda-Solanki clan commands much respect here primarily owing to the selfless social work put in by Ishwar Chavda. The BJP won the LS seat only twice, in 1989 and 1999. Ishwar Chavda's loss in 1999 to Dipak Sathi shocked him. Following Chavda’s demise, his grandson, Bharatsinh Solanki, successfully wrested the seat from the BJP in 2004. Solanki has been state Congress president since taking over the reins post-2002.
Ishwar Chavda politically consolidated the landless Kshatriya community along with Dalits and Muslims. The relative prosperity of the Patels and their large land holdings had marginalised the other communities.
Back at the Congress karyalya in Borsad, people start gathering inside the office mid-morning. They are a mixed bag of very poor, middle class and affluent. There are no privileges for anyone. Everyone sits on the cotton mattresses spread out on the floor. A septuagenarian villager gives a letter to Chavda. He has come from Dehmi, a village of 5000 some seven kilometers away. Parsottamdas Gohil is a sarpanch of Dehmi and wants a BPL (below poverty line) card for his village. Receiving a letter from Gohil, Chavda immediately makes a telephone call to the Collector and asks him to get the work done. Just then a beggar with a knee injury walks in. “What do you want? Need medicines?” “Yes,” he stammers. “Do you get your food regularly at Jalaram Mandir?” The beggar nods in the affirmative
In Borsad town of Gujarat's Anand district, the Congress party office still has a Gandhian air. Situated in the heart of the town, the office is spartan. If the building did not have a signboard, one may have mistaken it for an old-fashioned business office with the seth (owner) sitting cross-legged behind a sloping desk attending to the day’s work. Just about anyone, even a beggar looking for food, is free to walk in and air his thoughts before Amit Chavda, local MLA and cousin of Bharatsinh Solanki, Union minister of state for energy. This is exactly how Ishwar Chavda, called Dada or elder brother, used to function in the past.
The history of Anand district is very interesting. It is the country's milk capital. Politically, the region has been dominated by the Congress and the Chavda-Solanki clan commands much respect here primarily owing to the selfless social work put in by Ishwar Chavda. The BJP won the LS seat only twice, in 1989 and 1999. Ishwar Chavda's loss in 1999 to Dipak Sathi shocked him. Following Chavda’s demise, his grandson, Bharatsinh Solanki, successfully wrested the seat from the BJP in 2004. Solanki has been state Congress president since taking over the reins post-2002.
Ishwar Chavda politically consolidated the landless Kshatriya community along with Dalits and Muslims. The relative prosperity of the Patels and their large land holdings had marginalised the other communities.
Back at the Congress karyalya in Borsad, people start gathering inside the office mid-morning. They are a mixed bag of very poor, middle class and affluent. There are no privileges for anyone. Everyone sits on the cotton mattresses spread out on the floor. A septuagenarian villager gives a letter to Chavda. He has come from Dehmi, a village of 5000 some seven kilometers away. Parsottamdas Gohil is a sarpanch of Dehmi and wants a BPL (below poverty line) card for his village. Receiving a letter from Gohil, Chavda immediately makes a telephone call to the Collector and asks him to get the work done. Just then a beggar with a knee injury walks in. “What do you want? Need medicines?” “Yes,” he stammers. “Do you get your food regularly at Jalaram Mandir?” The beggar nods in the affirmative
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