Real-estate businessman, party loyalist: Meet Salim Amdavadi, Congress’s lone Muslim leader to head a city unit

Sources said that Amdavadi (56), a resident of Bharuch town and a native of Manubar village in the district, is a four-term corporator of Bharuch Nagar Palika (BNP). He has also held the post of the Leader of Opposition in the BNP in the past.

Salim belongs to the Vora Patel community in Bharuch and has been affiliated with the Congress party for the past 35 years. Having studied till Class 12, he is a farmer and a real estate businessman by profession.

Talking about his unique surname, Amdavadi told The Indian Express, “I have no connection with Ahmedabad, it (the name of the city) is only our surname. We belong to the Bharuchi Vora Patel community, which has the majority of votes in different seats in the Bharuch district. I will work hard and get the party candidates elected in the local Nagar Palika, Taluka Panchayat, District Panchayat, Assembly, and Parliamentary elections.”

Rajendrasinh Rana, meanwhile, has been reappointed as Bharuch district’s Congress president for a second term. Rana, whose name was announced on Saturday, said, “I am thankful to the AICC for giving me a second chance to serve it. The party made a good decision in appointing Amdavadi as the president of Bharuch town. This will help voters return to the Congress and vote for the party’s candidates in the future elections.”