Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Mukesh Dalal was elected unopposed from Gujarat’s Surat Lok Sabha constituency. While the Congress candidate Nilesh Kumbhani's nomination was cancelled by the election officer over alleged "fake signatures of people who signed as witnesses" and other eight candidates for the seat withdrew their nominations.
Gujarat has a total of 26 Lok Sabha seats and the polling in the state is set to take place in the third phase on May 7. In the last two Lok Sabha polls, 2014 and 2019, the BJP won all the parliamentary seats in the state.
Who is Mukesh Dalal?
- Mukesh Dalal, who won Surat Lok Sabha unopposed, is the general secretary of BJP's Surat city unit and SDCA committee member. Earlier, he held the position of chairman of the standing committee within the BJP-led Surat Municipal Corporation.
- Mukesh Dalal, who hails from the Modh Vanik community, is considered to be trusted by the BJP's state president, C.R. Patil.
- Before his current roles, Dalal had an extensive history within the BJP. He was involved with the BJP Yuva Morcha at the state level and served as a city executive member of the BJP.
- Dalal has a notable political career within the Surat Municipal Corporation, having been elected as a councilor for three terms and serving as chairman of the standing committee for five terms. His dedication to the party is evident, as he has held the position of general secretary of the city BJP for over three years.
- Dalal's involvement in various roles extends beyond politics. He formerly served as the chairman of the Surat People's Cooperative Bank Limited.
- His educational background includes a Bachelor's degree in Commerce, as well as studies in LLB and MBA (Finance). Dalal's dedication to the BJP spans several decades, as he has been associated with the party since 1981.
About Surat Lok Sabha constituency
Surat is one of the Lok Sabha constituencies in Gujarat. The state has 26 parliamentary seats. The Surat seat comprises seven Assembly segments including Suratwest, Olpad, Surateast, Suratnorth, Varachharoad, Karanj and Katargam. The constituency is a general seat. The BJP and the Congress are the main parties in the constituency.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, Darshana Vikram Jardosh from BJP won the seat with a margin of 548,230 votes. Darshana Vikram Jardosh was polled 795,651 votes with a vote share of 74.00 per cent and defeated Ashok Patel (adhevada) from Congress who got 247,421 votes (23.14 per cent).
In the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections, Darshana Vikram Jardosh from BJP won the seat and was polled 718,412 votes with a vote share of 75.75 per cent. Congress candidate Desai Naishadhbhai Bhupatbhai got 185,222 votes (19.53 per cent) and was the runner-up. Darshana Vikram Jardosh defeated Desai Naishadhbhai Bhupatbhai by a margin of 533,190 votes.
