Bharatsinh Solanki trying to infuse new life into Gujarat Congress

GANDHINAGAR: From shortening the bourgeoning list of top office bearers to injecting discipline, the newly-appointed president of Gujarat Congress is doing all he can to rejuvenate the party ahead of the crucial civic body polls in the state, scheduled for later this year. Already, Solanki has reduced the number of vice-presidents in the state from 13 to 7 and that of general secretaries from a whopping 32 to mere 8. Even number of spokespersons too has been brought down to 4 from an earlier 10.

"The new team is a mix of experience and fresh faces," said a party source adding that while Solanki has always been associated with the infamous Kshatriya Harijan Adivasi Muslim (KHAM) social combination of his father Madhavsinh Solanki that had brought Congress its unbeaten record of winning 148 seats in 1985 election and rout ever since, Solanki junior has brought in Raghavji Patel a powerful Patel leader from Saurashtra as a vice president, sending across a message to the powerful Patel community whose wrath had spelled electoral doom for the party in Gujarat.

Similarly, Ashwin Kotwal a respected tribal leader from the Surashtra has been brought in as the general secretary as has been Iqbal Patel a well-known minority leader.