Surat (Gujarat):

BJP candidate for Lok Sabha Mukesh Dalal, who was declared the winner from Surat parliamentary constituency after multiple withdrawals and disqualifications of opposition candidates, has said that this development marks the beginning of a comprehensive victory for the party in the general elections.

A day after the nomination of the party’s Surat Lok Sabha candidate was rejected due to alleged discrepancies in the signatures of the proposers, Mukesh Dalal won the election “unopposed”.

BJP’s Mukesh Dalal received the MP (MP) certificate from Surat District Collector on Monday after all other candidates withdrew from the fray.

“Today I have been declared the winner, so the first lotus has bloomed in Gujarat and the country. I thank PM Modi, HM Amit Shah, party chief JP Nadda, state CM and state BJP chief for showing confidence in me This is the first step towards the formation of a full majority government,” Mr Dalal said.

The last date for withdrawal of nominations before the Lok Sabha elections in Surat under the third phase on May 7 was April 22, Monday.

Yesterday, the nomination papers of Congress party candidate Nilesh Kumbhani were rejected after his three proposers claimed in an affidavit to the District Election Officer that they had not signed his nomination papers.

The nomination form of Congress’s substitute candidate from Surat, Suresh Padsala, was also invalidated, ruling Gujarat’s main opposition party out of the electoral fray in the city.

Returning Officer Saurabh Pardhi said in his order that except Mukesh Dalal, all the other eight candidates in the fray have withdrawn their nominations.

In Gujarat, Congress and AAP are contesting elections in alliance. Congress has fielded candidates on 24 out of 26 seats, while AAP is contesting from Bhavnagar and Bharuch.

Voting will be held in the third phase of Lok Sabha elections in Gujarat on May 7.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)