‘Hope you’ll feel cheated’, ‘anyay kaal’: Opposition protests after Surat BJP candidate wins uncontested

The opposition INDIA bloc has vehemently protested the uncontested victory of the BJP candidate from Surat. BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate from Surat, Mukesh Dalal, was declared elected from Surat after the nomination of the Congress candidate was rejected and the other candidates withdrew from the fray. Dalal won the election – scheduled for May 7 – without a single vote. 

Rahul Gandhi called this a step towards destroying the Constitution. “Taking away the people's right to elect their leader is another step towards destroying the Constitution of Babasaheb Ambedkar. I am once again saying - this is not just an election to form a government, this is an election to save the country, this is an election to protect the Constitution," he said in Hindi in a post on X.

Shiv Sena UBT Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, in a message to voters in Surat, said that she hopes they will feel cheated, even if they were planning to press the NOTA button. She said the rigging of Chandigarh Mayor election, the disqualification of INDIA bloc candidates in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh on ‘flimsy grounds’, the rejection of INDIA candidates in Surat and the pressure to withdraw the candidature of independent candidates are signs of “ending democracy”. 

“Think before who you vote for let the electoral democracy become a jumla!” she said. 

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh claimed that the distress of micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) owners and the business community in Narendra Modi's "Anyay Kaal" and their anger have "spooked the BJP so badly that they are attempting to 'match-fix' Surat Lok Sabha, which they have won consistently since the 1984 Lok Sabha elections!"

Ramesh said that India’s elections, democracy and Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Constitution are all under a “generational threat”. "This is the most important election of our lifetime," he said. 

An election official said that the nomination of Congress candidate Nilesh Kumbhani was rejected due to inconsistencies in the signatures of proposers. The nomination form of Suresh Padsala, the Congress’ substitute candidate was also invalidated. Four Independents, three from smaller parties and Pyarelal Bharti of Bahujan Samaj Party, withdrew their papers.

The Congress party complained to the poll panel against the election of Mukesh Dalal without any contest. A delegation of Congress leaders met the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners and demanded that the election process in Surat be restarted as "wrong and undue influence" was being exerted.