Ahmedabad: In the wake of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to his home state – a grand spectacle promoted by the Gujarat government – an internecine tussle has broken out in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). A senior party leader from Gujarat has publicly levelled allegations of corruption against a former Member of Parliament from the state who is known to be close to Modi and his right-hand man, Union home minister Amit Shah. Soon after these accusations were made, the whistleblowing BJP politician was attacked by unidentified persons.
Senior BJP leader Bhikhabhai Kalabhai Gohil has publicly claimed that former MP Dinu Bogha Solanki masterminded a series of scams over the years. The allegations against Solanki include illegal encroachment of land and various financial misdemeanours. Gohil has made these allegations in several letters that have been sent to the prime minister, the chief minister of Gujarat and others. These letters are in the public domain.
This correspondent, who has met Solanki in the past when he was an MP, called him on his mobile number several times and sent him messages over WhatsApp, to seek his response to the allegations that have been made by Gohil. He did not respond to the calls or the messages. This article will be updated if he responds.
The controversy took a sinister turn when Gohil, who had given an interview to this writer for a YouTube channel detailing these allegations, was attacked by unidentified men. The interview aired on March 1 on ‘The Gujarat Report’ channel, headed by journalist Mayur Jani. Gohil has alleged that he was attacked by motorcycle-borne assailants two days later, on March 3, in the town of Kodinar.
These unseemly accusations by one BJP leader against another have overshadowed Modi’s much-publicised safari in the Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary, the only home of the Asiatic lion, the announcement of financial support of Rs 2,900 crore to the sanctuary from the Union government, and his visit to Vantara, the private zoo of the Ambanis in Jamnagar.
Internal dissent in the Gujarat BJP – particularly over corruption allegations – has been brought to Modi’s attention at least twice before in the last year.
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Gohil is the former sarpanch of Innaj village in the Patan-Veraval taluka and the vice president of the BJP’s Bakshi Panch (an organisation to promote the interests of Bakshis who belong to the Other Backward Classes or OBCs in the state) in the Gir Somnath district. His letters have been addressed to the collector of Somnath, an officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel and Prime Minister Modi.
Dinu Solanki, who belongs to the Karadiya Rajput community, has held important positions in the state including those of president of the Kodinar Municipality (1998), Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) of Gujarat from Kodinar (2002) and Member of the Lok Sabha from Junagarh (2009). In 2009, he declared assets worth nearly Rs 2 crore. As detailed later in this article, in November 2013, he and his nephew were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case relating to the murder of activist Amit Jethwa. Solanki has a history of criminal charges and has been accused of acquiring disproportionate assets and intimidating police officers who have investigated his activities.
Gohil’s letters to Modi, Patel and others, dated February 21 and March 1, call for an investigation into Solanki’s allegedly corrupt activities. He has been accused of operating illegal businesses and exploiting state resources for personal gain.
News reports suggest that Solanki supported Union home minister Amit Shah and provided him “shelter” when the then minister of state for home affairs in the Gujarat government was charged by the CBI and arrested for three months between July 2010 and October 2010 in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh “fake encounter” case.
Gohil’s letters allege:
- Land acquisition: Solanki and his family own hundreds of acres of agricultural and commercial land across several talukas in Gir Somnath district, including in Kodinar, Sutrapada, Gir Gadhada, Una and Veraval. His influence is said to extend to the real estate markets in the cities of Rajkot, Ahmedabad and Surat. Gohil has claimed that he has reports that suggest that many of these properties, including farmhouses and commercial buildings, were acquired through coercion and fraudulent means. His letters allege that farmers in Kodinar have been coerced into selling their land at rates below market prices for developing real estate projects.
- Business ventures: Solanki’s business operations reportedly include a dealership for TAFE brand tractors (owned by the Chennai-based Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited). Gohil has alleged that Solanki operates a cable television network that has been accused of theft of electricity. Further, he has allegedly constructed mobile phone towers on public land without approval. He and his associates own a cold storage unit and four ice making factories in Kodinar and Verawal. Gohil claims Solanki used his political influence to secure government contracts for building roads, supplying water and setting up power projects. He allegedly owns a stone crusher and a paving plant that is close to the Gir Sanctuary. Solanki has been accused of mining sand and cutting stones in an unauthorised manner, and these operations have degraded the ecology of the area. He and his associates like Dilipbhai Padiyar have reportedly obtained contracts for construction projects being executed by the Shapoorji Pallonji group and the state government owned electricity distribution company Paschim Gujarat Vij Company Limited (PGVCL).
- Money laundering: Gohil’s letter alleges that Solanki has links with offshore betting syndicates operated by Rajkot-based bookie Rakesh Pratap Rajdev, who is said to currently be in Dubai.
- GST evasion: Gohil has claimed that entities associated with Solanki’s nephew, Pratap (Shiva) Solanki, have been accused of evading GST payment relating to sales of metal scrap.
- Transport contracts: Solanki’s family has been controlling Ambuja Cement’s transportation contracts for over three decades, allegedly received as ‘favours’ because of Dinu Solanki’s political influence. Ambuja Cement is now part of the Adani group.
Gohil’s letters call on Modi to initiate a thorough investigation into the affairs of Solanki and his associates. Gohil has said that the proposed probe should include a forensic audit of Solanki’s assets and sources of income over three decades, a comprehensive review of his tax records and financial transactions, and an in-depth inquiry into his land acquisitions and business operations.
Murder of activist Amit Jethwa
This isn’t the first time Solanki has faced serious criminal allegations. In 2010, environmental activist Amit Jethwa was murdered after exposing illegal limestone mining in the vicinity of the Gir National Park – operations allegedly linked to Solanki. Dinu Solanki and his nephew Shiva Solanki were arrested by the CBI in November 2013. While the lower court convicted Solanki and six others in July 2019 and sentenced them to life imprisonment, the Gujarat high court overturned the verdict in May 2024, saying the CBI court’s decision was influenced by a “predetermined notion of conviction”. The high court bench of Justices A.S. Supehia and Vimal K. Vyas described the CBI probe as “slipshod and perfunctory”. Jethwa had earlier filed several cases in court. He had been publicly threatened by Solanki. On July 20, 2010, Jethwa was shot dead in broad daylight by two assailants on a motorcycle outside the premises of the Gujarat high court.
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Even as Gohil’s allegations against Solanki have stirred Gujarat’s political landscape, Modi’s visit to his home state has come under scrutiny for its staggering Rs 31 crore price tag. This amount is detailed in an internal note issued by the collector of Surat. The expenditure – covering branding, promotion and accommodation for his entourage and security personnel – marks a sharp increase from the amounts spent on his previous visits, said a source in the know, who spoke to this correspondent on condition of anonymity.
This correspondent has accessed an internal note written by the collector of Surat asking how his administration will obtain additional funds for Modi’s visits to Surat on March 7 and to Navsari on March 8. Gujarat government officials have written to the collector telling him that the funds will be provided, the source added. The Wire has written to Rushikesh Patel, minister in the Gujarat government and the government’s spokesperson, asking for a detailed breakdown of the spending on Modi’s March trip to Gujarat. This article will be updated once a response is received.
A compilation of facts from press releases put out by the BJP in Gujarat indicates that between 2019 and 2024, the prime minister has made an average of 25 official and non-official visits to his home state, annually. Other expenses incurred on his publicity, his clothing and personal accessories, apart from his use of aircraft provided by the Indian Air Force and other aircraft, on road travel and renovation of his residence, have not been publicly revealed or accounted for, yet.
As regards foreign travel, according to a written answer in Parliament given by the then Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh in December 2018, Rs 2,021 crore was spent on Modi’s visits to 92 countries. This amount included expenses on maintenance of aircraft, chartered flights, hotline facilities and excludes expenses on hotels and overheads for the prime minister’s entourage.
Dilip Patel is an independent journalist.
Translated and additional inputs provided by Ayush Joshi and Paranjoy Guha Thakurta.