VMC polls: Woman to contest unreserved seat for first time

Vadodara: For the first time in the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC), a woman candidate will contest from an unreserved seat, marking a significant shift in the city's electoral landscape. In a strategic move to retain its last stronghold in Ward 1, the Congress has fielded three women candidates.The party faces a challenging electoral arithmetic in the ward, which it had previously swept, winning all four seats under a different reservation pattern. Earlier, two seats were reserved for women while the other two were open, with no caste-based reservations. This time, however, one seat is reserved for an OBC woman, while another open seat carries a Scheduled Tribe (ST) reservation — altering the political equations considerably.The sitting councillors — Pushpa Waghela (SC), Ami Ravat (general), Jaha Desai (OBC), and Harish Patel (general) — could not be easily accommodated under the revised reservation matrix.To navigate this, the Congress fielded Sonal Desai, wife of Jaha Desai, from the OBC women's seat, while Waghela was given a ticket from the general women's seat. Nikul Patel has been fielded from the ST-reserved seat. In a notable move, the party nominated Ami Ravat for the open general seat, making her the first woman to contest from an unreserved seat in the VMC.Ravat, who will face a BJP male candidate, said the party was "making history" by fielding three women in the ward. She also noted that she had earlier been appointed as the first woman Leader of Opposition in the VMC.Congress city president Rutvij Joshi alleged that the revised caste reservations were designed to weaken the party's position in the ward. "We worked out a combination to counter the situation. Tickets were given to deserving candidates after discussions at the state level," he said.BOXLeft out Harish Patel rebelsCongress accommodated three sitting councillors in Ward 1 by renominating Ami Ravat and Pushpa Waghela, while fielding Sonal Desai, wife of councillor Jaha Desai. Nikul Patel has been nominated from the Scheduled Tribe-reserved seat. This left out sitting councillor Harish Patel, who has filed his nomination as an independent. "Candidates with connections to senior leaders got tickets, and I was sidelined," he said, adding that he will remain in the fray.
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