Lok Sabha Polls: 15 Days Before Voting, BJP Candidate Declared Winner In Surat

Surat: Only the first phase of polling in the Lok Sabha elections has been conducted so far, while counting of votes for all 543 constituencies will take place on June 4.

Yet, the country has already got its first MP for the 18th Lok Sabha.

A fortnight before all 26 constituencies in Gujarat go to polls on May 7, BJP has drawn first blood with Mukesh Dalal, its candidate from Surat, being declared winner unopposed.

The Congress candidate’s form was rejected by the returning officer Sourabh Pardhi, while the other eight candidates for the seat withdrew their nominations, leaving only Dalal in fray.

Congress candidate Nilesh Kumbhani couldn’t present even one of his three proposers before the returning officer, leading to his nomination being cancelled.

Congress then proposed Suresh Padsala as a substitute candidate, but his nomination was also invalidated as discrepancies were found in signatures of his three proposers, following objections raised by the BJP.

While Gujarat BJP chief CR Paatil congratulated Dalal for winning the Surat Lok Sabha seat, Congress cried foul and demanded that Surat elections be postponed.

“Four proposers of Congress together say that the signatures are not theirs, after which they go missing. The biggest thing is that all the opposition leaders of BJP withdraw their nominations. In such a situation, Surat elections should be postponed,” said Abhishek Manu Sanghvi.

According to Congress’ Gujarat leader and advocate Babu Mangukiya, Kumbhani’s three proposers were kidnapped. He demanded that the returning officer should investigate the matter.