Congress to legally challenge unopposed win of BJP Surat candidate after Lok Sabha polls
On April 22, Mukesh Dalal was declared the winner after the Congress’ candidate was disqualified and others withdrew their nominations.
The Congress will take legal recourse after the Lok Sabha elections against the polling officer’s decision to declare Bharatiya Janata Party candidate in Gujarat’s Surat constituency the winner unopposed, two weeks before voting was to take place, reported The Indian Express on Monday.
On April 22, Mukesh Dalal was declared the winner from Surat after the Congress’ candidate was disqualified by the polling officer and other candidates withdrew their nominations. Voting in the constituency was scheduled to be held in the third phase on May 7.
Sourabh Pardhi, Surat’s district election officer, had rejected the nomination papers of the Congress’ candidate Nilesh Kumbhani on April 21 on the grounds that all three persons who had proposed his candidature had failed to turn up before the polling authority to support his nomination form.
The persons had claimed in an affidavit to the poll officer that they had not signed his nomination form. The nomination of the Congress’ alternative candidate was also rejected on the same grounds.
On Sunday, senior Congress leader and advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that a returning officer cannot judge a signature’s authenticity.
“Legal recourse in these matters happens after the election,” Singhvi told The Indian Express. “Nobody is talking about winning or losing but we are talking about the principles of it.”
He also said that a returning officer can decide...
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