At least 35 candidates have won LokSabha polls unopposed since 1951: BJP candidate wins LS unopposed

The BJP’s Mukesh Dalal has become the first candidate in the last 12 years to have won a Lok Sabha election unopposed

PTI, New Delhi, Apr 22, 2024 :  The BJP’s Mukesh Dalal has become the first candidate in the last 12 years to have won a Lok Sabha election unopposed. He is also perhaps the first candidate from the BJP to have ever won a parliamentary poll unopposed.

His victory from the Surat parliamentary constituency comes close on the heels of 10 BJP candidates winning uncontested in the just-held assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh.

Dalal was on Monday elected unopposed from Surat Lok Sabha constituency in Gujarat after all other nominees withdrew from the fray, a poll official said. The candidature of the Congress’ Nilesh Kumbhani was rejected a day earlier after the district returning officer prima facie found discrepancies in the signature of the proposers.

This is the first victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the ongoing seven-phased Lok Sabha elections.

Before Dalal’s unopposed entry to the 18th Lok Sabha, there have been at least 34 others who have won the parliamentary polls since 1951 without an electoral battle.

Samajwadi Party’s Dimple Yadav had won the Kannauj Lok Sabha bypoll in 2012 unopposed. The seat was vacated by her husband Akhilesh Yadav after he became the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

Amongst the other prominent leaders who have won parliamentary polls unopposed are Y B Chavan, Farooq Abdullah, Hare Krishna Mahtab, T T Krishnamachari, P M Syeed and S C Jamir.

Of the candidates who have entered the Lok Sabha without a contest, the maximum have been from the Congress. Sikkim and Srinagar constituencies have seen such unopposed elections twice.

While most candidates have won polls unopposed in general or regular elections, there have been at least nine, including Dimple Yadav, who have won bypolls uncontested.

A maximum of seven candidates won the general elections uncontested in 1957, followed by five each in 1951 and 1967 polls. While three candidates won uncontested in 1962 and two in 1977, one candidate each won the polls in a similar fashion in 1971, 1980 and 1989. 

BJP candidate Mukesh Dalal was on Monday elected unopposed from Surat Lok Sabha constituency in Gujarat after all other nominees withdrew from the fray, a poll official said. The development marks the first victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. 

"I declare that Mukesh kumar Chandrakant Dalal, sponsored by the BJP, has been duly elected to fill the seat in the House from Surat Parliamentary constituency, "district collector cum election officer Saurabh Pardhi told media persons as he handed over the certificate of election to Dalal. Voting for all 26 constituencies in Gujarat is scheduled for May 7, but with the result of Surat seat already out, polling will be held on 25 seats.

Except for Dalal, all eight candidates in the fray from Surat- four Independents, three from smaller parties and Pyarelal Bharti of Bahujan Samaj Party- withdrew their nomination papers on the last day, asper the Surat district election office. 

Notably, the candidature of Congress' Nilesh Kumbhani from Surat seat was rejected on Sunday after the district returning officer prima facie found discrepancies in the signature of the proposers. The nomination form of Suresh Padsala, the Congress' substitute candidate from Surat, was also invalidated.

The Congress on Sunday alleged that Kumbhani's nomination form was rejected at the behest of the BJP and said it would challenge the rejection in the High Court.

"Surat has presented the first Lotus to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Icon gratulate our candidate for Surat LokSabha seat Mukesh Dalal for getting elected unopposed," Gujarat unit BJP president C R Paatil posted on X (formerly Twitter).In the 2019 polls, BJP won all 26constituencies in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.