BJP candidate Mukesh Dalal wins Surat Lok Sabha seat unopposed
The development comes after nominations of two Congress candidates were cancelled on Sunday, and eight other candidates withdrew their candidature on Monday.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Mukesh Dalal was elected unopposed from Gujarat’s Surat Lok Sabha constituency after all other contenders withdrew their candidature.
The development comes after nominations of two Congress candidates were cancelled on Sunday, and eight other candidates withdrew their candidature on Monday.
Gujarat will go to polls on May 7.
Confirming the development, Gujarat BJP chief CR Paatil posted congratulatory messages for Dalal.
“Surat has offered the first lotus to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Congratulations to Surat Lok Sabha candidate Mukeshbhai Dalal for being elected unopposed,” Paatil said on X (formerly Twitter).
“As all the eight candidates who had successfully filed their nomination for the Surat Lok Sabha seat have withdrawn their candidature, Dalal has been elected unopposed. We will soon announce his win,” Returning Officer Sourabh Pardhi told HT over phone.
The final candidate to withdraw their candidature was Pyarelal Bharati from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) around 2pm today, he added.
The nomination filing for Gujarat, which goes to polls in the third phase, was held from April 15 to April 19 with April 22 being the last date for withdrawing candidature.
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The Congress party faced a setback as the candidature of Nilesh Kumbhani for the Surat Lok Sabha seat was declined on Sunday. The decision came after the district returning officer prima facie found discrepancies in the signature of the proposers.
Suresh Padsala, the substitute candidate from the Congress for Surat, also had his nomination form rejected on Sunday. As a result, the main opposition party in Gujarat could not participate in the city’s Lok Sabha election.
In his order, Pardhi said the four nomination forms submitted by Kumbhani and Padsala were rejected after prima facie, discrepancies were found in the signatures of the proposers, and they did not appear genuine. The proposers, in their affidavits, said that they had not signed the forms themselves, according to Pardhi’s order.
On Saturday, Dinesh Jodhani, election agent of BJP candidate Dalal, raised objections to the nomination forms. As a result, the returning officer allowed the Congress candidate time until Sunday morning to come forward and present his case.
The returning officer decided to reject the nomination forms after reviewing affidavits from the proposers and other evidence. They ensured the proposers’ identities were verified and they weren’t under duress, as per the order. Additionally, video footage requested by the Congress candidate’s lawyer failed to show the presence of the signatories, as mentioned in the order.
Gujarat Congress chief Shaktisinh Gohil claimed that the rejection of the party’s candidate’s nomination form for the Surat Lok Sabha constituency was orchestrated by the BJP.
He alleged that the BJP is feeling threatened by the prospect of defeat in the elections.