New Delhi: The Congress on Monday cried foul after BJP candidate Mukesh Dalal was declared elected unopposed in Gujarat’s Surat Lok Sabha seat, two weeks before the polling was to take place on May 7. The grand old party alleged that the saffron party was "trying to fix the match" as MSME owners and local businessmen were angry with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
According to party insiders, the game in Surat started recently when the nomination of Congress candidate Nilesh Kumbhani was rejected by the Returning Officer (RO) on the ground that the papers submitted by three of his proposers were not in order.
The nomination of Congress-backed candidate Suresh Padsala, who was an alternative arrangement, was also rejected on similar grounds. Later, the four independent candidates also withdrew from the contest leaving BJP's Mukesh Dalal the only contestant.
Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh lashed out at the BJP saying democracy is in danger. "Democracy is in danger. You must understand the chronology. The Surat District Election Officer has cancelled the nomination of the Congress candidate from Surat Lok Sabha, Nilesh Kumbhani," Ramesh, a former Union Minister, said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"The reason cited was 'faults in the verification of signatures of three proposers'. Citing similar reasons, officials rejected the nomination of Suresh Padsala, Congress' alternate candidate from Surat. The Congress party is left without a candidate. Except (for) BJP candidate Mukesh Dalal, all other candidates have withdrawn their nominations. The BJP candidate from Surat Lok Sabha seat was declared 'unopposed' on April 22, 2024, just about two weeks before the polling on May 7, 2024.
"Seeing the problems and anger of MSME owners and businessmen during the injustice period of PM (Narendra) Modi, BJP is so scared that it is trying to 'fix the match' of Surat Lok Sabha. They have been winning this seat continuously since the 1984 Lok Sabha elections. Our elections, our democracy, Babasaheb Ambedkar's Constitution - everything is in grave danger. I repeat - this is the most important election of our lifetime," added Ramesh.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary in charge of Gujarat Ram Kishan Ojha told ETV Bharat, "This is a murder of democracy. The BJP wants to win by unfair means. We are soon going to seek legal remedy in the Surat case.”
Gujarat Congress chief Shakti Sinh Gohil said that the party will approach the court against the decision of the Returning Officer. "Even if there is only one candidate left in the nomination process, there is an option of NOTA none of the above for the voters. As the returning officer declared the BJP candidate elected unopposed on Monday, the basic purpose of having a NOTA option has been defeated. The voters would have been able to use this option only if polling had taken place on May 7. We will approach the courts against the order," Shakti Sinh Gohil told ETV Bharat.
Party insiders said the role of the three proposers of the Congress candidate Nilesh Kumbhani was being probed as it looked prima facie that they turned hostile.
"Usually, the proposers are someone close to a candidate. It is hard to believe that they would not fill up the forms properly. Chances are that they got compromised under the BJP's influence. We don't know if money played a role or some kind of threat was there. It seems the BJP tried similar tricks with the other candidates to ensure only their candidate remained in the fray," a senior AICC functionary said.
The party insiders said the BJP tried similar tricks to get the nomination of Congress candidates rejected in other seats also.
"In Bhavnagar, Panchmahal and Amreli seats also they tried to get the papers of our candidates rejected but we put up a legal fight and won. Where our candidates were strong, they could not disrupt the process but wherever they found some loopholes they played their game,” added a senior AICC functionary.
Party leaders denied that there was some problem in the screening of Lok Sabha candidates as recently ex-social media chief Rohan Gupta joined the BJP despite getting a ticket from Ahmedabad.
"The screening process identifies the potential candidates who have been with the party and doing good work. How do we know if someone was hand in glove with the BJP,” a senior Gujarat Congress leader said.
The Congress is contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in Gujarat in alliance with the AAP, which is fighting on two seats Bhavnagar and Bharuch. The Congress is fighting 24 seats. The BJP has been winning all 26 seats in the state in the previous 2014 and 2019 national polls.
The Congress has fielded four strong leaders and sitting MLAs for the Lok Sabha polls including Congress Legislature Party leader Amit Chavda from Anand, Geniben Thummar from Amreli, Anant Patel from Valsad and Gulab Sinh Chauhan from Panchmahal seats.
