Nilesh Kumbhani, the Congress candidate for the Surat Lok Sabha seat, has been suspended from the party for six years after his nomination form was rejected due to alleged discrepancies. The suspension was decided by the party’s disciplinary committee after it came to the conclusion that Kumbhani’s nomination form was rejected due to gross negligence on his part or “in connivance with the BJP”.
The BJP had raised questions about the discrepancies in the signatures of three proposers in Kumbhani’s nomination form. The nomination form of Suresh Padsala, the Congress’ substitute candidate from Surat, was also invalidated. The other eight candidates for the seat also withdrew their nominations, leading to Mukesh Dalal winning the seat.
A day after Mukesh Dalal was announced the winner of the Surat seat, Congress workers protested outside Nilesh Kumbhani’s house as he was likely to join the BJP, as per sources. The Lok Sabha elections in the Surat seat was supposed to take place on May 7 but Mukesh Dalal was declared the victor on April 22.
