Lok Sabha Election 2024: BJP's Mukesh Dalal wins Surat seat unopposed; what Congress said?

Surat: Gujarat Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President CR Patil on Monday congratulated Surat Lok Sabha seat candidate Mukesh Dalal for getting elected unopposed.

Patil wrote on Twitter, “Surat offered its first lotus to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Congratulations and best wishes to Mukesh Dalal, the candidate from Surat Lok Sabha seat, on being elected unopposed.'

On Sunday the nomination of Congress candidate Nilesh Kumbhani was cancelled. The substitute Congress nominee from Surat constituency Suresh Padsala's papers were also rejected, ending Congress' bid to contest the seat. 

On Monday, all eight remaining candidates including that of the Bahujan Samaj Party withdrew from the race, leaving Dalal as the only one in fray.

The Election Commission has not yet formally announced Dalal's victory. Today was the last date for withdrawal of nomination papers for Surat seat. 

Yesterday, the nomination papers of the Congress party's candidate Nilesh Kumbhani were rejected after his three proposers claimed in an affidavit to the district election officer that they had not signed his nomination form.

The nomination form of Suresh Padsala, the Congress' substitute candidate from Surat, was also invalidated, pushing Gujarat's principal opposition party out of the poll fray in the city.

In his order, Returning Officer Sourabh Pardhi said that all other eight candidates in the fray had withdrawn their nominations except Mukesh Dalal.

BJP has ‘match-fixed’ Surat LS seat: Cong

The Congress while reacting sharply to the rejection of nomination of its Surat Lok Sabha seat candidate on Monday said that the ‘match-fix’ of the seat by BJP only showed that the party was scared of its defeat.

In a post on social media X, general secretary in-charge communication, Jairam Ramesh said, “The distress and anger faced by MSME owners and business people in Modi’s Anyay Kaal has made BJP nervous. They “match-fixed” Surat Lok Sabha, which they have won consistently since 1984 Lok Sabha elections!"

Ramesh said, "Surat District Election Officer rejects @INCIndia’s candidate for Surat Lok Sabha, Nilesh Kumbhani’s nomination for “discrepancies in verification of signatures of three proposers”. On similar grounds, officials rejected the nomination of Suresh Padsala, the INC’s substitute candidate from Surat. Congress Party is left without a candidate".

The senior Congress leader said that only the BJP candidate Mukesh Dalal was left in the fray as other candidates have withdrawn their nomination.

"BJP candidate declared “elected unopposed” from Surat Lok Sabha seat on April 22nd, 2024, nearly two weeks before polling on May 7th 2024," Ramesh said.

Stating that democracy is under threat, the Rajya Sabha MP said, "Our elections, our democracy, Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Constitution – all are under a generational threat. This is the most important election of our lifetime!"