Gujarat is currently holding elections for Gram Panchayats. In the state, elections are being held for 6000 Gram Panchayats. Among the candidates for the upcoming gram panchayat polls is a Mumbai-based model,Ashra Patel is contesting for the sarpanch post from her native village in Chhota Udepur.
Out of the spotlight, the Mumbai supermodel is preparing to become the village’s Sarpanch. She is currently going door to door asking for votes. The reason behind it is also special.
Ashra Patel is a model who aspires to be a Sarpanch. Aishra is a well-known model. She had competed in the Femina Miss India 2010 pageant and made it to the finals. She’s also competed in a number of beauty pageants, also modelled for over a hundred different brands. However, she is now fascinated with the development of her village and has jumped right into the election process.
“Staying at home during the lockdown made me realise how much work the village still has to do.” There aren’t enough schools, transportation, or healthcare. Even in the midst of the pandemic, the villagers had no idea what Covid-19 was all about. There were no doctors available right away. Patel, stated that, “There were times when I contacted doctors and brought medicines prescribed to treat patients showing symptoms.”
Ashra Patel was born into a farming family; her father, Narhari Patel, was a BJP member and served as a sarpanch from 1989 to 1994 and 2012 to 2017. She left the village at the age of 17 in the early 2000s, first to study physiotherapy at a private college and then to pursue a successful modelling career in Mumbai, winning popular supermodel competitions and finishing second in the Ford Supermodel competition in 2009.
“I’ve always been interested in the lives of the people in this village, and they know me well enough to ask me to compete this time.” My father was a sarpanch, and I used to look up to him when he stood by the villagers who needed his assistance; he would go out at all hours of the day to assist them. His values of social service have been embedded in me. “Today’s elected officials have so many vested interests that they aren’t even approachable,” she explained.
Ashra believes she will be rewarded for her “good work” during the pandemic.
“The recent unseasonal rain has caused so much damage, but the villagers do not know whom to approach for compensations; villagers complain to me that they haven’t received their pensions for over four months,” Patel said, adding that she plans to stay in her village regardless of the poll result. I have tried to help everyone as much as I can in my personal capacity, but this is the responsibility of the government, and if I am in a position to ensure that the benefits of government schemes reach the people, it will help the village prosper.”
The village has a total population of 2,601 people, with 74.4% belonging to Scheduled Tribes and 0.4% belonging to Scheduled Castes, according to the 2011 Census. Females account for 48.1% of the village’s population, with a literacy rate of 50.7%