AHMEDABAD: Her CV is impressive: She has done her Masters in International Finance from the University of Westminster and has worked as an investment banker with HSBC and Darashaw.
She then wanted to start an ice-cream brand of her own but gave up the idea after she says, she faced multiple problems in obtaining licences and other government clearances for land and infrastructure.
She then dashed off to Bengaluru to do a course in political leadership in IIM. Later, she also got a UN scholarship. But the 34-year-old left the corporate world and took a plunge into politics where she is now sweating it out in the heat and dust of Gujarat elections.
Contesting on a Congress ticket, Shweta Brahmbhatt claims to have the right attitude to become a neta. She is the youngest candidate and is in the fray from the high profile Maninagar seat in Ahmedabad, the seat Narendra Modi vacated to become the Prime Minister.
But there is more to Shweta, who has upped the glamour quotient in Modiland this election season.
While many wonder whether glamour will fetch votes, that too in a BJP bastion like Maninagar, Shweta says if her looks can be a crowd puller, she is okay with it but adds that people should judge her by her ability to work for the people.
“The purpose with which I have joined politics has got nothing to do with my looks. In fact, I would say that looks do not matter in politics. I want the people to look at my role in the politics of Gujarat, all that I can do for the people. I do not want to dilute or distract people from my work. But yes, if glamour can be a crowd puller, I am good with it,” Shweta told The Sunday Standard.
Asked about comparisons being drawn with Assam’s BJP MLA, Angoorlata Deka, who sparked off a nationwide debate on social media about glamour and politics, Shweta says while it is a fact that people like to listen to those candidates who are presentable and are able to create that first impression, it would be wrong to judge anyone by looks.
“While working in the corporate, I deliberately used to dress down a bit to avoid distracting people in office as I wanted them to focus on my work alone. I wanted people to rate me on my strengths and ideas. If people judge me on how I appear, the whole purpose gets diluted. If I am presentable, people do come up and talk to me like they did during my campaign,” she says.
Just like her leader Rahul Gandhi, Shweta also comes from a Congress family. Her father Narendra Brahmbhatt had contested the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation polls in 2000 and is a well-known Congress leader. Shweta is looking at wooing about 60 per cent young voters in the constituency and has been pitted against sitting BJP MLA Suresh Patel.
Asked whether she has met Rahul, Shweta said no. “I am looking forward to meeting him,” she says. So what does she think of dynasty politics? “If a person is eligible to do something then he or she should be allowed to go ahead without discouraging them. I may belong to a political family but if I have an edge, then why not? People should select me on my capabilities not my father’s. In my candidature, my father was not involved.”
Among all the contesting candidates across Gujarat, Shweta stood out for her style of campaigning. “More than criticising, I like to highlight what all I can do. When I met people, I did not tell them to vote for me. I told them that don’t get brainwashed and think before you vote. Think what the person you voted for in the past (BJP) has done.”
“When I hear complaints about bijli, sadak and pani, it is disgusting. I tell people that if problems are not solved, why have such a (BJP) person as your representative? I am sure of victory,” she says.