All other candidates withdrew from the race, leaving only BJP candidate Mukesh Dalal to win the Surat Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat on Monday, according to a poll official.
With this development, the Bharatiya Janata Party has won the Lok Sabha elections for the first time.
“I declare that Mukeshkumar Chandrakant Dalal, sponsored by the BJP, has been duly elected to fill the seat in the House from Surat parliamentary constituency,” district collector cum election officer Saurabh Pardhi told media persons as he handed over the Certificate of Election to Dalal.
On May 7, voting is planned for all 26 constituencies in Gujarat; however, as the results of the Surat seat have already been announced, voting will only take place for 25 seats.
According to the Surat district election office, on the final day, all eight candidates from Surat—four Independents, three members of tiny parties, and Pyarelal Bharti of the Bahujan Samaj Party—withdrew their nomination papers, with the exception of Dalal.
Notably, the district returning officer initially discovered differences in the proposers’ signatures, leading to the rejection of Congressman Nilesh Kumbhani’s candidacy from the Surat seat on Sunday.
Additionally, the Surat-based alternative candidate for the Congress, Suresh Padsala, had his nomination form nullified.
On Sunday, the Congress claimed that Kumbhani’s nomination form was turned down at the BJP’s request and declared that it will file a High Court challenge to the decision.
“Surat has presented the first Lotus to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I congratulate our candidate for Surat Lok Sabha seat Mukesh Dalal for getting elected unopposed,” Gujarat unit BJP president C R Paatil posted on X (formerly Twitter).
In Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP won all 26 seats in 2019 elections.
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