Date:24/05/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/05/24/stories/2007052418820100.htm

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Gujarat Minister resigns

Ahmedabad: Gujarat Minister of State Purshottam Solanki on Wednesday submitted his resignation in protest against "police inaction" in the rape and murder of girls of the Koli community in Junagadh.

Mr. Solanki was protesting against alleged police failure to nab those who raped a girl and murdered another in Junagadh on May 13.

The girls had gone to the Datar shrine with their families when two men abducted them. Mr. Solanki is the only Koli Minister in the Narendra Modi Government. He first submitted his resignation to the leaders of his community at his official residence in Gandhinagar that was thronged by hundreds of people of the community. He holds the Animal Husbandry and Fisheries portfolios.

He and his supporters went to the bungalow of Minister of State for Home Amit Shah to present the resignation to BJP general secretary Jayanti Barot. The Kolis make up one of the most powerful OBC communities in Gujarat. — PTI