"Fake Signatures, Proposers Absent": High-Voltage Drama In Surat Before Congress Candidate's Nomination Was Canceled

The nomination form of the Congress’ candidate in Surat, Nilesh Kumbhani, was rejected on Sunday (21 April) over a discrepancy in the signatures of his three proposers.

District election officer and collector Saurabh Parghi said that documents supporting his candidature "showed discrepancy" after matching the signature of the three proposers with other documents.

The signature of the candidate or the proposer on the nomination form not being "genuine" is one of the reasons in the Representation of the People Act 1951 due to which nomination can be canceled.

Mukesh Dalal is the BJP candidate from Surat replacing Union Minister Darshana Jardosh. Meanwhile, Congress is ready to move the Gujarat High Court against the order.

The scrutiny of nomination papers was yesterday when BJP candidate's election agent Dinesh Jodhani raised the objection that the signatures of Kumbhani’s three proposers were fake.

A day's time was then given to Kumbhani to rectify the objection by presenting the supporters before the election officials in hearing at 11 am today.

However, when Kumbhani asked them to appear at the election office, they agreed but they neither came today nor picked up his calls as their phones were "switched off".

Of the three proposers, two were Kumbhani's relatives and one was his partner. They filed an affidavit yesterday saying that the signatures on the form were not theirs.

As the three proposers were absent from today's hearing, frustrated Kumbhani got into a scuffle with the election office functionaries, Dainik Jagran reported.