Know Your Candidate: Ami Ravat from Sayajigunj OF Congress

The state of Gujarat is currently undergoing a bout of mixed emotions as the upcoming state assembly elections are approaching. Parties have already begun announcing their candidates, with BJP’s list of candidates putting the entirety of Gujarat in a state of confusion and awe. 

BJP, Congress, AAP, AIMIM are the names we hear commonly but there are certain faces we associate with these party names such as Gopal Italia, Ami Ravat, Rivaba Jadeja and more. Every city in Gujarat is in an anticipatory mood as of now, now that the candidate lists for parties have been announced. Citizens have begun considering their options ahead of the first phase of voting. 

We hear of many names but do we really know them as well as we think we do? Every candidate contesting the elections is always more than just their political career and credentials. We often look at our choice of candidates as ‘political leaders’ rather than as regular persons, often neglecting the fact that their political career came into the fore through their own evolution and development towards their career.

As part of Know Your Candidate, here is all we need to know about Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) Leader of Opposition and Vadodara Congress’ potential candidate from Sayajigunj assembly: Ami Ravat

Gujarat assembly election dates have been announced and so have the candidate lists for parties. Congress is fielding Ami Ravat from Vadodara’s Sayajigunj seat who was hand-picked by the party as one of the most trusted to fight from Sayajigunj. Her candidature was considered keeping in mind all social and development initiatives undertaken by her as well as the immense support she has garnered due to which she was given a ticket from one of Sanskari Nagari: Vadodara’s most important assembly seats.

Decoding Ami Ravat

Ami Ravat currently serves as the Leader of Opposition in Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) and thereon has emerged as a well-known local leader. Hailing from Vadodara, Ami Ravat venture into politics was solidified by her husband’s Congress leadership which had taken a prominent turn in the 2017 assembly elections as he filed for his candidacy from Sayajigunj assembly seat. This powerful husband-wife duo representing Vadodara Congress from Sayajigunj have served as quite the prominent names in the city. 

A classic case of ‘Engineer-turned-politician’

Ami Rawat completed her schooling  from IPCL School and went on to pursue Engineering from Maharaja Sayajirao University’s (MSU) Faculty of Technology and was awarded: B.E., M.E.,(civil) and PGDHRD. Politics has no restrictions when it comes down to who qualifies as an able and capable leader. Such is the case of Ami Ravat, a qualified Engineer from Vadodara who goes on to become a famed name in city politics as she receives a Congress ticket from Sayajigunj assembly in the upcoming state assembly elections.

Education is not the sole primary factor in an individual’s journey into politics and leadership, one’s skills, initiatives and the need for working towards a cause they are passionate about to serve the people that they represent also plays a central role. These aspects are what make one capable of leading. Ami Ravat is known for dabbling in issues surrounding environment, policy formation, rural and urban planning and many more. 

Her political journey can be traced from her early initiatives in these aspects. In her capacity as an Environmental Consultant, she served as a Consultant for the ‘World Bank Slum Upgradation Project’ and went on to serve as a Consultant in the Water Sanitation Department at Gujarat UNICEF. Further on,  she has maintained managerial and top positions as an Executive Director at All in Development NGO, in the field of environment, served as a Secretary at the Indian Institute of Engineers, was an Executive member at Gujarat State Urban Slum Policy Formation Committee, was involved in the Tribal Department at Gujarat Government Consultant Chief Minister 10 Point Program, served as a Manager at Vadodara-based NGO Baroda Citizen Council in 2003 under the Environment and Infrastructure Department. However, leaving aside her notable contributions into the field of environment and engineering, one of the most important facts about Ami Ravat is that she has served as an Editor at Vadodara’s fortnightly newspaper ‘Jago Vadodara’.

As an Environmental Consultant on both the national and international levels with more than 25 years of working at various organizations in the development sector in Vadodara, she went on to work in the urban planning department at Vadodara Mahanagar Seva Sadan. As part of her study and research on issues surrounding the corporation and area, she also published ‘Environmental Map Book’. She participated in one of Asia’s pilot projects in slum rehabilitation development. Her most notable work was her participation in Vaho Vishwamitri Abhiyan (VVA); an ambitious project to help with the revival and rejuvenation of the Vishwamitri River by the Vadodara’s Community Science Centre and Gujarat Council on Science and Technology. Ami Ravat’s major focus was towards Gujarat’s policy on slum dwellings and their developments, urban planning and the environment.  Ami Ravat is the recipient of the prestigious British Scholar Award in 1999.

In her capacity as the National Manager of the Technological Hazards Mitigation project, she helped create the most appropriate plan to mitigate risks associated with industrial accidents, hazardous pollution and a plan for post-disaster recovery. This move was carried out as Vadodara city is also faced with industrial hazards and chemicals which could be far more worse than that in Bhopal.

Slum upgradation, development and renovation:

Ami Ravat had a major role to play in the development and upgradation of Gotri’s Ramdev Nagar slums. As part of Asia pilot project that involved a joint operation of VMC, UNICEF and Gujarat government, the slum dwellings were developed where Ami Ravat’s team worked towards the provision of proper sewage facilities, water availability, cemented roads and drainage facilities during monsoons in the slums. 

After this project, she went on to organize various awareness programs towards slum re-development in the city after which she became a member of a committee appointed by the Gujarat government to look into policies surrounding the development of slum dwellings.

Ami Ravat and politics:

Talking about her work in the political scenario, her first venture into politics was in the role of ‘Gujarat Pradesh Mahila’ Congress Committee’s General Secretary after which she went onto being the President for the same. She was also elected as a Corporator in VMC for two terms and is currently serving as the Leader of Opposition. 

With the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections to take place in just a few days, parties had begun announcing their candidates for all seats in the cities. Ami Ravat was announced for one of Vadodara’s most crucial Assembly seats: Sayajigunj as a candidate from Congress. The Sayajigunj seat is one of the largest constituencies among Vadoidara’s five assembly seats where a total of 2,93,563 voters were registered from. Keeping in mind the voter demographics, of the 2 lakhs + voters, 1,50,663 are male and 1,42,867 female voters. The constituency also includes a large group of OBC voters as well. 

Since the 2017 elections, her husband Narendra Ravat has been holding the Sayajigunj seat. However, this time, Ami Ravat will be faced with formidable competition in BJP’s Keyur Rokadia, who also serves as the current Mayor of Vadodara and AAP’s young leader Swejal Vyas. 

A tough battle has already been reported by majority with sources already speculating Keyur Rokadia to be locking horns with Ami Ravat.