Proposers of Congress' Surat candidate deny they signed his form; hearing on Sunday

The district election officer DEO on Saturday sought a reply from Nilesh Kumbhani, Congress candidate in Surat Lok Sabha constituency of Gujarat, after his three proposers claimed that they had not signed his nomination form.Elsewhere in the BJP-ruled state, officials will also decide on objections to the nomination forms of Jenny Thummar, Congress candidate from Amreli and Umesh Makwana, Aam Aadmi Party AAP candidate from Bhavnagar.

The district election officer (DEO) on Saturday sought a reply from Nilesh Kumbhani, Congress' candidate in Surat Lok Sabha constituency of Gujarat, after his three proposers claimed that they had not signed his nomination form.

Elsewhere in the BJP-ruled state, officials will also decide on objections to the nomination forms of Jenny Thummar, Congress candidate from Amreli; and Umesh Makwana, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate from Bhavnagar. Surat DEO Sourabh Pardhi has granted Kumbhani time till 11am on Sunday to furnish his response. Interestingly, the sole proposer of Suresh Padsala, who is Congress' alternative candidate from Surat, also denied that he signed the nomination form, prompting Gujarat Congress chief Shaktisinh Gohil to allege that the ruling BJP was trying to get his party's candidates invalidated. During the hearing before the Surat DEO on Saturday evening, both Kumbhani and Padsala sought time till Sunday. ''Proposers of main candidate (Kumbhani) and the substitute (Padsala) have denied having signed the papers. We have been given time till 11 am on Sunday before the final order is passed. The party will submit a detailed argument,'' Congress spokesperson Naishad Desai said.

Kumbhani said his proposers Ramesh Polara, Jagdish Savaliya and Dhuvin Dhameliya were unreachable at the moment, but he would contact them soon.

AAP leader Gopal Italia alleged that Kumbhani's proposers had been kidnapped, and said that a complaint had been registered with police. ''They were pressurised to submit affidavits denying they had signed the nomination forms,'' he claimed.

Congress and AAP are contesting the elections in Gujarat in alliance. Congress has fielded candidates on 24 out of 26 seats, while AAP is contesting Bhavnagar and Bharuch. Gohil said the party took all care to ensure there were no errors in the nomination forms of its candidates. ''Despite this, the BJP raised objections in 14 places. In Surat, the BJP feared that Congress would win, so they used police to put pressure on the proposers to file affidavits about not having signed the forms,'' Gohil alleged.

''All four proposers, three of the main candidate and another of the substitute candidate, have made similar claims,'' he said, adding that Congress will move the High Court and Supreme Court over the issue. The BJP's Bhavnagar candidate Nimuben Bambhaniya claimed that there was a discrepancy in the income details in the affidavit filed by Makwana during the 2022 assembly election and the information in his present affidavit. He also did not fully disclose his education qualifications, she said in her complaint.

In Amreli, BJP's Ravu Khuman alleged that Thummar did not disclose full details of her property in her affidavit. ''We have submitted our objection and it is for the officer to decide,'' he said. Ajay Dahiya, DEO, Amreli, said Thummar was given time till 4 pm to provide a clarification. There would be a final hearing on Sunday morning after which a decision will be taken, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)