Gujarat High Court Summons BJP MP Mukesh Dalal

The Gujarat High Court has issued a summons to Mukesh Dalal, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament (MP) from the Surat Lok Sabha constituency, in response to two petitions challenging his uncontested victory.

Justice JC Doshi’s court issued the summons, requiring Dalal to respond by August 9. The petitions were brought to the court’s attention on July 25, as reported by PS Champaneri, the petitioner’s lawyer.

Election Context:

Dalal was declared the winner on April 22, the final day for withdrawing nominations, following the rejection of Congress candidate Nilesh Kumbhani’s nomination and the withdrawal of other candidates.

The remaining 25 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat were contested on May 7 during the third phase of the general elections. The BJP secured 25 seats, including Surat, while the Congress won one seat.

Petitioners Claims on MP Mukesh Dalal:

The petitioners, four voters from the Surat parliamentary constituency and Congress members, have questioned the legality of the Surat collector and returning officer’s decision to reject Kumbhani’s nomination.

They argue that Kumbhani’s three proposers, who later denied signing his nomination papers, had declared their intention to sign as proposers before the deputy collector. This was done while applying for the necessary certificate confirming their voter status in the constituency, a prerequisite for proposers.

The petitioners contend that verifying signatures is not the collector’s responsibility and emphasize that the Congress, being a national party, has no shortage of proposers for its candidates.

Unopposed Victory of Mukesh Dalal:

Dalal’s uncontested victory marks the first time in 12 years that a candidate has won a Lok Sabha seat unopposed. District Collector and election officer Saurabh Pardhi issued the election certificate to Dalal in the final hour of nomination withdrawal on April 22.

Kumbhani’s nomination was rejected due to discrepancies in the signatures of his proposers, who filed an affidavit stating they had not signed the papers. The nomination of Kumbhani’s dummy candidate, Suresh Padsala, was also invalidated for the same reason.

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