Surat MP Mukesh Dalal
– Photo: ANI
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The Gujarat High Court has issued summons to Mukesh Dalal, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Surat Lok Sabha seat. The court has issued these summons on two petitions challenging his unopposed victory in the Lok Sabha elections. Petitioners’ lawyer P.S. Champaneri said on Sunday that the matter came up for hearing on July 25 before the court of Justice J.C. Doshi. The court issued summons to Dalal and asked him to respond by August 9.
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Dalal was declared the winner on April 22 after the nomination of Congress’ Nilesh Kumbhani was rejected and other candidates withdrew from the race. April 22 was the last date for withdrawal of nominations. Polling for the remaining 25 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat was held on May 7 in the third phase of the general elections. The BJP won 25 seats in the state, including Surat, while the Congress got one seat.
The petitioners have challenged the validity of the decision of the Surat Collector and Election Officer to reject Kumbhani’s nomination.
The two petitions filed by four voters of Surat parliamentary constituency question the returning officer’s decision to reject Kumbhani’s form under the provisions of Section 36 of the Representation of the People Act. The petitioners have claimed that three proposers of Kumbhani later refused to sign his nomination papers. They had declared in an application before the deputy collector that they would sign his nomination form as proposers.