Parshottambhai Odhavjibhai Solanki (also spelled as Pursottambhai Odhavjibhai Solanki) is a

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

politician. He is member of Gujarat Legislative Assembly since 1998 representing Bhavnagar Rural constituency. He has served as the

Minister Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

of Fishery in the Government of Gujarat. He is alleged to have caused loss of 400 crore (

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

72.4 million) to the government of Gujarat by granting contracts improperly. Solanki was active

Hindutva Hindutva () is the predominant form of Hindu nationalism in India. The term was formulated as a political ideology by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 1923. It is used by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), the ...

wadi and master mind in

Mumbai riots In the Bombay riots in December 1992 and January 1993, an estimated 900 people died. The riots were mainly due to escalations of hostilities after large scale protests by Muslims in reaction to the 1992 Babri Masjid Demolition by Hindu Karsev ...

of 1992 - 1993, a high level inquiry was conducted by Srikrishna Commission and found that Solanki was most aggressive Hindutvawadi but at that time Solanki was

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

in Government of Gujarat. Solanki belong to the

Koli Koli may refer to: Places * Koli, Finland, a hill in Finland * Koli National Park, a national park in Finland * Koli, Iran (disambiguation), several places in Iran * Koli Airfield, a former airfield in the South Pacific Other uses * Koli people ...

caste of Gujarat.

Political career

Solanki won 2007 assembly elections (12th assembly elections) and became

Member of Legislative assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...

from

Talaja Talaja may refer to: People * Roope Talaja (born 1988), Finnish ice hockey player * Silvija Talaja (born 1978), Croatian tennis player Places * Talaja Caves, India * Talaja, Bhavnagar Talaja is a town and a municipality in Bhavnagar district ...

constituency, in

Bhavnagar Bhavnagar is a city in the Bhavnagar district of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, a States of India, state of India. It was founded in 1723 by Gohil Koli, Bhavsinhji Takhtasinhji Gohil (1703–1764). It was the capital of Bhavnagar State, whi ...

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

. Following the win, he was selected to serve as a cabinet minister in the government led by

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

and was appointed the "Minister of fishery". He was elected again in 2017 from Bhavnagar Rural constituency.

Controversy

Fishery scandal

In 2009 Solanki gave contracts for fishing in reservoirs across the state. The contracts were allegedly given for fishing in the waters of 58 dams without following or performing any tendering process by auctions and the contracts were just allotted after payment of 40 crore. It was estimated that due to the mis-conduct in granting the contracts, the government of Gujarat suffered a loss of 400 crore (

72.4 million). Following the allegations, Ishaq Maradia wanted to prosecute the minister under the Anti-corruption Act for the "irregularity". However, the cabinet and Modi rejected the application for prosecution twice due to "lack of sufficient evidence". The matter reached High Court and it was suggested by the court that the governor of Gujarat Kamla Beniwal should take the decision whether to prosecute the minister or not. Beniwal, on 26 July 2012, overruled the state government and directed to prosecute the Minister. The matter was again taken to the high court by Solanki. The petition challenged the Governor's sanction and was seeking reversal. On 20 September 2012, the high court rejected the petition, citing that "the sanction for prosecution was not erroneous". As the court rejected the petition,

Arjun Modhwadia Arjun Modhwadia is an Indian National Congress politician from Porbandar Gujarat, India. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly from 2004 to 2007. He had been a president of Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee ...

, the leader of the opposition and president of Gujarat congress, alleged the role of

in the scam and also asked for Modi's resignation on moral grounds. He added, "Rs. 400 crore scam was carried out with 'full knowledge of CM' and he, he should step down, owning moral responsibility." The court directed the superintendent of police, Gandhinagar, to probe the matter and submit the report on the role played by the minister by 6 October 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Solanki, Parshottambhai Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Gujarat Gujarat MLAs 2007–2012 Corruption in India Living people Gujarat MLAs 2012–2017 Gujarat MLAs 2017–2022 Gujarati people People charged with corruption 1961 births

Political career

Controversy

Fishery scandal

See also

References