Cong. nominee in Surat goes incommunicado
The Congress workers, who are furious at Mr. Kumbhani’s “irresponsible conduct”, even pasted posters at the gate of his locked house that read “janta ka gaddar (people’s traitor)”.
Mr. Kumbhani’s nomination papers were rejected on Sunday after his three proposers denied that they signed the papers. The three proposers have also been missing since April 19.
In Delhi, the party has approached the Election Commission (EC) seeking its intervention in Surat where all rival candidates opted out of the contest one by one, paving the way for the BJP’s Mr. Dalal to be declared the winner without election.
In its plea to the EC, the Opposition party has asked the the poll body to use powers under Article 324 “for setting aside the order passed by the Returning Ocer cancelling Mr. Kumbhani’s nomination, directing restoration of his candidature from the Surat Lok Sabha constituency; or in the alternative, (accepting) nomination of the backup candidate for the INC, Suresh Padsala”.
However, Congress leaders and workers in Surat are fuming at the party leadership’s inability to ensure proper nomination papers or look into proposers who endorsed his nomination.
Patidar quota activist
Mr. Kumbhani had risen to fame in 2015 during the Patidar quota agitation. As a member of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) that spearheaded the State-wide agitation, he was one of the key players behind the protest, and worked along with Hardik Patel, now a BJP legislator.
The day Mr. Kumbhani’s nomination papers were rejected by the returning ocer, Dinesh Kachchadia, a local AAP leader, in a social media post alleged that Mr. Kumbhani had “struck a deal for ₹5 crore” with the BJP.
On Tuesday, the AAP leaders demanded criminal action against Mr. Kumbhani for forgery.