Lok Sabha Elections 2024: BJP's 'first lotus blooms' even before counting as Mukesh Dalal wins in Surat unopposed

Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Mukesh Dalal has emerged victorious unopposed from Surat, giving the party its first win in the Lok Sabha elections.

The BJP's Gujarat cell took to X and said, "Surat offered the first lotus to make our Narendrabhai Prime Minister again..."

Dalal, 63, is the general secretary of the BJP's Surat city unit and was previously the chairman of the standing committee of the BJP-run Surat Municipal Corporation.


This comes after the election body rejected Congress candidate Nilesh Kumbhani's nomination as his proposers claimed they didn't sign his papers and 8 other candidates withdrew their papers.


The Congress' backup candidate Suresh Padsala's nomination form for Surat was also declared invalid, removing the party from the city's election race in Gujarat.

The Returning Officer Sourabh Pardhi stated that the nomination forms of Kumbhani and Padsala were rejected due to discrepancies in the proposers' signatures, which seemed questionable.

Surat District Collector and Election Officer on Monday gave the Member of Parliament (MP) certificate to Dalal, after all other candidates withdrew from the fray.