Surat Lok Sabha Election: Congress Out Of Contest As Candidate Nilesh Kumbhani's Nomination Gets Rejected

Surat Lok Sabha Election: Congress Out Of Contest As Candidate Nilesh Kumbhani’s Nomination Gets Rejected

Lok Sabha Election 2024: In a big jolt to Congress, its Lok Sabha Gujarat candidate, Nilesh Kumbhani’s nomination was rejected by the district returning officer citing apparent discrepancies in the proposers’ signatures. The nomination of Suresh Padsala, the substitute Congress candidate, was also declared invalid forcing the main Opposition party in Gujarat’s Surat out of the polls.

In his order, Returning Officer Sourabh Pardhi said the four nomination forms submitted by Kumbhani and Padsala were rejected as discrepancies were found in the signatures of the proposers, and they did not appear genuine after prima facie. According to the order by Pardhi, the proposers, in their affidavits, stated that they had not signed the forms themselves.

Congress To Approach HC And SC

Informing about the same, the lawyer of Congress said that the nomination forms of Dinesh Kumbhani and Suresh Padsala have been rejected after the four proposers said the signatures on the forms were not theirs. He stated that the party will now approach the High Court and Supreme Court.

BJP Candidate’s Election Agent Raised Objection On Nomination

This came after Dinesh Jodhani, the election agent of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Mukesh Dalal raised an objection to the nomination forms on Saturday. Following the same, the returning officer of the BJP granted time to the Congress candidate to appear before it on Sunday morning to present his case.

Kumbhani, in his reply, submitted that since the proposers had signed in front of him, a handwriting expert ought to review their signatures.

They also should be cross-examined for the benefit of justice, he said.

After reviewing the proposers’ affidavits and pertinent documentation, confirming the proposers’ identities, and making sure they were not under pressure or threat, the returning officer issued an order rejecting the nomination forms. Even the presence of the signatories was not found in the video footage examined at the request of the Congress candidate’s lawyer, the order stated.

BJP’s Surat Candidate

BJP has fielded Mukesh Dalal from the Surat Lok Sabha constituency. Dalal, 65, is the general secretary of the BJP’s Surat city branch and was previously the head of the standing committee of the BJP-run Surat Municipal Corporation.