IIM-educated woman is Cong pick in PM’s former constituency

My focus is on education, employment and women empowerment. I am sure people of this seat, especially youth and women, will put their trust in me. SHWETA BRAHMBHATT, Congress candidate

AHMED A BAD: The city’ s Man in agar seat, aB JP bastion and constituency of Na rend ra Mo di before he became the Prime Minister, is set for an interesting contest between the ruling party’ s sitting M LA Sure sh Patel and Congress’ suave and foreign-educated young face Shw eta Br ah mb hatt.

Br ah mb hatt ,34, is perhaps the only candidate in this assembly election who has received training to be a politician, that too from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore.

Though Brahmbhatt’s selection came as a surprise to many, despite the fact that her father Na rend ra Br ah mb hat tis a senior Congress leader of the city, the aspiring politician is confident of winning the hearts of voters through her“vision and determination ”. However, it will not be easy for the Congress to take on the BJP in Maninagar, which houses the state headquarters of Rash triyaSwa yams eva kS angh.

Maninagar is considered an un breach able bastion of the B JP since 1990.

PM Mo di, then as Gujarat CM, represented it in the assembly in 2002, 2007 and 2012. Prior to that, B JP leader K am le sh Patel represented these at from 1990 till 1998. In 2012, Modi defeated his closest rival, Congress candidate Sh wet a Bhatt, the wife of former IPS officer Sanji vB hatt who was a stringent critic of the Gujarat government under Mo di, by a margin of over 86,000 votes. Following Mo di’ s resignation from Man inagar after becoming the PM, the people elected B JP’ sS ur es hP a tel by a thumping majority of over 49,000 votes in the by-election to these at. Now, Pa tel will face firsttimer Brahmbhatt, who did her masters in international finance from the University of Westminster, London, in 2005.

She also worked as an investment banker with multinational firms in India. In 2012, she went to IIM, Bangalore, to pursue the India-Women in Leadership programme, designed to provide training to aspiring women politicians.

“I have seen politics since an early age. I consider politics social work. My sole purpose to contest this poll is to be the voice of youth and women,” she said.

“My focus is on education, employment and women empowerment. I am sure people of this seat, especially the youth and women, will put their trust in me,” she said.