Only woman in Gujarat Congress list of district chiefs: ‘Was expecting more women … told Rahul Gandhi you do only lip service’

“I was expecting at least three to four women district chiefs,” 64-year-old Patel told The Indian Express. “During the March 8 convention, I told Rahul Gandhi that you do only lip service. He assured me that women would be given representation, but I think they would not appoint one just for the sake of it … I know people such as Chandrika Bariya (in Dahod) make a case, but the district president there has been retained as he is young and doing well. There are many capable women in the AICC, but they get few opportunities.”

Congress sources said four women made it to the shortlist for Rajkot city, Vadodara city, and Dahod too, but the party “found it tough” to appoint them to helm those units. Congress insiders said only “competent” leaders made it to the list, while those who were “aligned with the BJP” were excluded.

Patel said the times had changed, but gender bias continues to exist, adding that women should prepare themselves. “One can get a nomination during elections due to reservation, but holding an organisational post is a tough job as it requires time,” she said.

Defending the AICC’s choices, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Amit Chavda told The Indian Express, “The priority in picking leaders was not caste or religion, but competence. Social balancing can be done when candidates are selected. For organisational posts, competence is the only criterion.”

“Senior leaders are not ready to work on the ground. We need to reverse this practice … There is nothing wrong with it. It only gives an opportunity to connect with people,” Patel said.

An architect and town planner, Patel is an AICC secretary and former state Mahila Congress president. She unsuccessfully contested from the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat last year against Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and hit the headlines when she crowd-funded her campaign.

The new Ahmedabad Congress chief who started her career with the Janata Dal hails from a political family. Her father Raman Patel was a municipal councillor from the Naranpura ward, where Amit Shah lived for 38 years. She also unsuccessfully contested the 2022 Assembly polls from Naranpura against the BJP’s Jitendra Patel.

Admitting her biggest challenge would be to align urban voters with the Congress, which has an organisation and reach in the older areas of the city, Patel said, “The new areas incorporated into the city face several issues. We may believe that (town planning) schemes are good, but several issues related to infrastructure and maintenance have come to my notice. We somehow need to reach out to people and make them support us.”

Outgoing Ahmedabad City unit chief Himmatsinh Patel expressed support for the veteran leader and said the process of selecting new district chiefs had put an end to the factionalism in the party. “We will all support her. She is both a senior leader and a woman. This will motivate and build confidence among party workers,” he said.

Sole Muslim district chief replaced

In the list, 14 district chiefs were retained, while a former MP and nine ex-MLAs, including former Tharad MLA Gulabsinh Rajput (Banaskantha) and ex-Una legislator Punjabhai Vansh (Gir Somnath), are among others given posts.

The only Muslim district president, Mohammad Yasin Gajjan in Devbhoomi Dwarka, has been replaced by Pal Ambaliya, a farmer leader and the president of the Gujarat Kisan Congress. “The names of Ami Ravat for Vadodara City and Gayatriba Vaghela for Rajkot City were doing the rounds, but the party went by consensus. The same is the case with Muslims. There were no major contenders. There was no attempt at social balancing at this point,” Chavda said.

State Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said the remaining names would be announced next week. “Junagadh was pending due to the Visavadar Assembly bypoll. The district presidents of Nadiad, Bharuch and Porbandar will be next week,” he said. Chavda said the decision in those places was taking time as they were recently upgraded to municipal corporations.