MP Report Card: Gita Rathva, BJP Constituency — Chhota Udepur

Constituency overview The ST (Scheduled Tribes) reserved constituency of Chhota Udepur has traditionally elected candidates of the Rathwa community since 1977. Naranbhai Rathwa has been among the most prominent MPs in the constituency. He held the seat as a Congress leader from 1989 to 1999 and again won in 2004. After 2009, tides largely turned […]

Gita Rathva, BJP

Constituency overview

The ST (Scheduled Tribes) reserved constituency of Chhota Udepur has traditionally elected candidates of the Rathwa community since 1977. Naranbhai Rathwa has been among the most prominent MPs in the constituency. He held the seat as a Congress leader from 1989 to 1999 and again won in 2004. After 2009, tides largely turned in favour of the BJP. In February this year, Naranbhai Rathwa switched to the BJP.

MP Profile

Prior to being an MP, Gita Rathva had been a member of the district panchayat of Chhota Udepur for the past five terms. She joined the BJP in 1995 and went on to become the president of the BJP Mahila Morcha of Kawant in 1998, a post to which she was re-elected repeatedly till 2004. Between 2004 and 2007, she served as the vice president of the Mahila Morcha. She has served as chairman of the district panchayat of Vadodara in 2013-14, of the district panchayat health committee in 2011-13 and of the child development department of the district in 2014-15. In 2019, Gita Rathva’s nomination by BJP had left many within the party upset, including then MP Ramsinh Rathwa and district president Jashu Rathwa who were contending for a ticket.

Committees she was part of

Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj; Rules Committee; and Consultative Committee, Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Panchayati Raj

MPLAD funds

Rathva has spent her MPLADS funds on infrastructural projects such as construction of a foot over bridge, roads and pathways, culverts and bridges, community centres and community halls, footpaths and pedestrian ways as well as for installing tube wells and borewells.

Questions asked in Parliament

In 2019, Rathva, along with Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, had inquired about the details of the latest household expenditure data from the National Sample Survey Office(NSSO). Other questions asked over the years include whether there is a risk of security with outsourcing of visa handling processes, methods adopted by the government to demarcate the forest areas to make them out of bounds for mining or protect them against illegal mining, and whether any review has been made by the government for finding out obsolete laws. Several of her questions have been for the AYUSH ministry such as seeking details of the number of AYUSH colleges and hospitals operating across the country.

Debates she participated in

Among significant debate participation concerning her constituency include seeking increasing railway connectivity in Chhota Udepur; connectivity to Statue of Unity by converting rail tracks to broad gauge lines; demanding an international airport at Chhota Udaipur; demand to construct a dam near Mahi river; promoting pig farms in Gujarat and elsewhere, and the need to establish Kendriya Vidyalayas in her constituency.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram