BJP Wins Unopposed, But Is The Battle For Surat Seat Really Over?

BJP's one seat for Gujarat is already in their account in the Lok Sabha Election 2024 results. A fortnight before Gujarat voting in the third phase of Lok Sabha elections on May 7, BJP's Surat candidate Mukesh Dalal was congratulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for an early victory, even before any votes were cast.

This followed the invalidation of Congress candidate Nilesh Kumbhani's nomination after three of his proposers filed affidavits claiming their signatures were forged.

Photo Credit: PTI

Is Surat's Unopposed BJP Win Truly Final?

The rejection of the nomination for Congress dummy candidate Suresh Padsala on similar grounds was confirmed on April 21 by Surat collector and district election officer (DEO) Saurabh Parghi. As per usual practice, each party fields a dummy candidate to safeguard the party symbol in case the primary candidate's nomination is rejected, as reported by India Today.

The intentions of Kumbhani were questioned in political circles as the proposers, Jagdish Savaliya, Dhruvin Dhamelia, and Ramesh Polara, were identified as his relatives and business partners. Kumbhani remained unreachable for party leaders and the media after his nomination was rejected, leading to speculation about his potential shift to the BJP.

Kumbhani's political journey began with the Patidar reservation movement led by Hardik Patel in 2015. He emerged as a candidate fielded by the Patidar Anamat Aandolan Samiti (PAAS) in the 2015 Surat Municipal Corporation elections under the Congress banner, winning a seat. Considered close to Hardik Patel, now a BJP MLA from Viramgam, Kumbhani was then nominated by Congress for the Lok Sabha polls, as per media reports.

Gujarat Congress president Shaktisinh Gohil accused the BJP of orchestrating the proposers to file false affidavits and avoiding verification when summoned by the DEO. Gohil called for a suspension of the election and announced that Congress would seek a high court-monitored investigation, alleging a BJP conspiracy to undermine democracy.

A forgery complaint was filed by Congress lawyer Zamir Shaikh against the proposers of both Kumbhani and Padsala. Shaikh emphasized the need for a police investigation to determine if Kumbhani forged the signatures or if false affidavits were filed by the proposers, as per media reports.

The withdrawal of nominations by four independent candidates and two others from minor parties led to the DEO declaring BJP's Dalal as the uncontested winner of the Surat seat. Allegations by Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi claimed the BJP had coerced these candidates to withdraw, accusing the Election Commission of partisanship. With the loss of Surat, Congress is now contesting 23 of the 26 seats in Gujarat under the INDIA banner, with two seats contested by Aam Aadmi Party candidates.

The BJP has historically dominated the Surat Lok Sabha seat since 1989, a trend upheld by outgoing MP Darshana Jardosh with a substantial victory margin in 2019. BJP spokesperson Zubin Ashra dismissed the allegations from the opposition, citing historical precedents of uncontested victories by various political leaders, and noted this was the first uncontested victory for a BJP MP.