Koli leader might be a Mumbai ka bhai—he is a former TADA detainee named in the Sri Krishna report who has at least 21 criminal cases registered against him—but in his constituency, he morphs into a mild mannered champion of Kolis, addressing everyone as “bhai”. Not for him the high-handedness of an underworld don; instead, Solanki is known for giving charities, even dancing at social dos.

The pressure of being the BJP’s Koli face is tremendous. Apart from his Ghogha seat in Bhavnagar district and that of his brother Hira Solanki’s in Rajula, Solanki needs to take care of two dozen constituencies that have a sizeable chunk of Koli votes. Is that a tough situation, we asked, and Solanki shrugged off the question with a grin. His machine gun wielding staff also made light of the question. “Where is the question of difficulty, bhai, when my people love me,” asked the Fisheries Minister, gulping his trademark Corex cough syrup.

Nevertheless, Solanki, who was recently acquitted in a 1993 Mumbai riot murder case, faces a tough challenge in Ghogha on two counts. First, unlike in 2002, the Congress has fielded Karsan Vagher, a Koli, thus splitting the community down the middle. Second, with BJP rebels campaigning for the Congress, Solanki has to face at least a 10 per cent swing in Patel votes against him.

To complicate matters further is the traditional rivalry that the Kolis have with the Darbar community. On the polling day in 2002, Solanki was shot at in Akodar village by a section of Darbars. “There are villages where when we send our teams and we do a head count on their return just to make sure that no one is missing,” said one of Solanki’s staff members, as the bhai prepared for his campaign.

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