Surat Lok Sabha candidate Nilesh Kumbhani, from Congress, suffered a setback when the election officer rejected his nomination papers after he failed to present any of his three endorsers. BJP's Dinesh Jodhani had questioned the legitimacy of the signatures on Kumbhani's nomination form. Responding to the debacle, Kumbhani said, 'I had spoken to the proposers this morning. They assured me they would reach the Collector's office by 9 AM. We had hoped for their presence, but now all their phones are switched off.'
'The fear of government threats has everyone intimidated,' he added. Advocate and Congress leader Babu Mangukiya claimed that all three proposers had been abducted and insisted that the election officer should have investigated the abduction instead of the validity of the signatures. He argued that cancelling the nomination without verifying the authenticity of the signatures was incorrect as they were indeed legitimate.
The Congress leadership announced plans to approach the High Court after filing a complaint about the alleged kidnapping of their proposers, which has yet to see any police action. Meanwhile, Aslam Cyclewala, a Congress leader, mentioned that Kumbhani's mistake was being nominated by the party, accusing him of trading his ticket and being compromised. Other party members expressed suspicion that Kumbhani had engaged in a deal with the BJP as the missing proposers were close relatives and business partners.
Rejecting accusations from Congress, the BJP claimed that Congress is trying to cover up its own faults. The party stated that the people would deliver their verdict, potentially leading to a BJP victory with a large margin in all 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat.
Proclaiming their innocence, the three endorsers submitted affidavits asserting that the nomination form did not bear their signatures.
The election officer had recorded a statement from the proposers, including Kumbhani's brother-in-law Jagdish Savaliya, his nephew Dhruvin Dhameliya, and business partner Ramesh Polara. They claimed their signatures were forged on Kumbhani's nomination form and have since been untraceable. The officer had given a day to Kumbhani to respond, which he did with his advocate, but the disappearance of his endorsers remained unexplained.
Surat, a former seat of Prime Minister Morarji Desai, has seen BJP's stronghold since 1989 despite his five-time tenure.
