Madhav Singh Solanki

Madhav was born on 30 July 1927 in a Koli[2][3][4] family of Gujarat.[5] His eldest son, Bharatsinh Madhavsinh Solanki, is also a politician.

In 1981, the Government of Gujarat headed by the chief minister Solanki, introduced the reservation for socially and economically backward classes based on recommendations of Bakshi Commission. It resulted in anti-reservation agitation across the state which spilled over in riots resulting in more than hundred deaths. Solanki resigned in 1985 but later returned to power winning 149 out of 182 assembly seats. He was supported by Kshatriya, Harijan, Adivasi and Muslims; called collectively as KHAM formula. It resulted in other communities losing the political influence.[6]

According to the CBI, Solanki visited Davos in Switzerland in 1992 to attend the World Economic Conference where he allegedly met the Swiss foreign minister Rene Felber and told him that "inquiries conducted into the scam in India had failed to produce any result and that the request for mutual assistance was based on political considerations".[7]

• Govt to press for early Presidential sanction
• Communalist outrages in Gujarat