Ritika
Himmatnagar: In the Gujarat assembly elections, various political parties are making various promises to woo the people, but independent candidate Maganbhai Solanki is depending on his mustache to get votes from Himmatnagar seat of the state. Holding the ends of his mustache with both hands, 57-year-old Solanki, a candidate from Himmatnagar seat in Sabarkantha district, says proudly that they are about five feet tall. Solanki, who retired from the army in 2012 as an honorary lieutenant, demanded the state government to give allowance to those who grow a moustache. “Whoever grows a moustache, the government should give him an allowance for their (moustache) maintenance,” Solanki told PTI. If elected, he will also urge the state government to bring a law to encourage the youth of Gujarat to grow moustache. Solanki said, “In the army, I used to get a special allowance for the maintenance of my moustache. In my regiment I was known as Moochhwala.
read this also
My mustache is my pride. It makes me stand out from the crowd.” When he is seeking votes at a market in Himmatnagar, his scintillating mustache is indeed the center of attention. “Mooche ho to inki jaisi, varna na ho”, said a voter, quoting a famous dialogue from the Amitabh Bachchan starrer “Sharabi”. The Himmatnagar seat is currently occupied by the BJP and Solanki knows that there is not much scope for him to win from here. He says that he enjoys contesting elections so he is contesting and he has been doing so since 2017 assembly elections in the state. He told ‘PTI-Bhasha’, “I was the candidate of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) then. I lost the election but did not give up.
I contested as an independent in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. This time also I am contesting as an independent.” Solanki claims that he has worked on various borders from west, east to north. He said that wherever he goes, his mustache attracts people’s attention. He said, “When I was in the army, my mustache used to attract attention and was always appreciated by senior officers. When I am contesting elections, people are surprised to see my moustache. Children come and try to touch him, while youngsters ask me for tips on how to grow such a moustache.” Solanki said that if he wins the election, he will also raise issues related to ex-servicemen.
He said, “I am fighting for the rights of ex-servicemen as nowadays young men retire early due to policy changes. Most of them are unemployed after retiring at the age of 45-46 years. Earlier, retired jawans used to get jobs again. In government offices… now that too has stopped.” Apart from his family members, some retired army personnel who are his friends are also campaigning for him. Solanki was inspired by his father to grow a moustache, and by the time he joined the army at the age of 19, he had grown a long one. He claimed that today his mustache is about two and a half feet long on one side. From Himmatnagar, the BJP has given ticket to Virendrasinh Zala, the Congress to Kamleshbhai Patel and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to Nirmalsinh Parmar. Solanki says that he will not stop contesting the elections till he wins the elections. (agency)
