He belongs to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and is a seven-term member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly representing Surgana and Kalwan constituencies.
[7] In the next assembly election of 1980 Gavit won against the Indian National Congress candidate Bhoye Sitaram Sayaji by about eighteen hundred votes.
[7] The following election of 1985 Gavit defeated the ruling party candidate Kahandole Zamru Manglu from the Indian national congress by more than twelve thousand votes.
[7] By the time the 1995 assembly election happened, Gavit was facing a seventeen-year anti-incumbency and lost to an independent candidate Harischandra Devram Chavan by a huge margin of about twenty-seven thousand votes.
[7] In 2009 due to delimitation by the Election Commission of India Gavit had to change his assembly constituency and left his safe seat of Surgana to fight from a newly formed constituency called Kalwan where he took on eight term assembly member and sitting minister of the government Arjun Tulshiram Pawar, Gavit lost to Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party by more than sixteen thousand votes.