The unanimous election of BJP candidate from Surat Lok Sabha constituency in Gujarat, after the nomination papers of Congress candidate was rejected by the Returning Officer, is taking many dramatic turns. Ironically, the Congress candidate Nilesh Kumbhani, whose nomination as Lok Sabha candidate was rejected over alleged discrepancies, is reportedly missing and can’t be reached over the phone.
This comes a day after the BJP’s Mukesh Dalal was declared winner from the BJP stronghold after all rival candidates withdrew from the contest. Amid reports claiming that Kumbhani may join the BJP, Congress workers protested outside his locked house with posters that read, “janata ka gaddar (people’s traitor)”.
Hailing the unanimous election of their candidate, Gujarat BJP chief CR Paatil said Surat has presented “the first lotus” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “I congratulate our candidate for Surat Lok Sabha seat Mukesh Dalal for getting elected unopposed,” he said in a post on X.
Meanwhile, the Congress has approached the Election Commission, alleging that the ruling BJP in Gujarat exerted “wrong and undue influence”, and demanded a restart of the poll process.
“We have therefore requested the Election Commission to postpone the election in Surat and redo the election shorty to send a clear message that you cannot take advantage of this kind of wrong undue influence,” party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi told reporters after meeting the Election Commissioners on Tuesday.
“All independent candidates were pursued by the BJP to withdraw their nominations,” alleged Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi. “Government machinery has been abused. The Election Commission is working as an arm of the BJP.”
BJP spokesperson Zubin Ashra rejected the Opposition’s allegations and reminded that this wasn’t the first time a candidate had won an election in India uncontested.
“When Jawaharlal Nehru was prime minister, 10 candidates had won unopposed in 1951 and 11 in 1957,” he argued, citing how many leaders of the INDIA front had won unopposed in the past, such as Dimple Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, Farooq Abdullah of the National Conference, and P.M. Sayeed and Yashwantrao Chavan of the Congress. Thirty five MPs have won uncontested since Independence; this is the first time a BJP MP has won uncontested”, he added.