Surat Candidate Reappears After 20 Days, Accuses Congress of Betrayal

Nilesh Kumbhani recently broke his silence and addressed the media after a period of quietude. He explained that his initial silence was out of respect for state party president Shaktisinh Gohil and the party’s Rajkot Lok Sabha candidate Paresh Dhanani. Kumbhani expressed that he was accused by Congress leaders of betrayal.

However, he asserted that it was the Congress party that had first betrayed him during the 2017 assembly elections when his ticket for the Kamrej Assembly seat in Surat was suddenly canceled. He also expressed dissatisfaction with the functioning of the party in Surat, citing that it is being run by five self-proclaimed leaders who hinder the work of others. When asked if his actions during the ongoing Lok Sabha poll were a form of revenge on the Congress, Kumbhani refused to give a direct reply and reiterated his dissatisfaction with the cancellation of his ticket in the 2017 state polls.

Kumbhani, who previously served as a Congress corporator in the Surat Municipal Corporation, contested the 2022 assembly polls from Kamrej but lost to the BJP. Interestingly, the nomination form of the Congress’ substitute candidate Suresh Padsala was also rejected, resulting in the party’s absence in the election. BJP’s Mukesh Dalal was declared elected unopposed from Surat on April 22 after all other candidates, including one from the BSP, withdrew their nominations.

Due to a pre-poll alliance with Congress, the AAP had not fielded a candidate from Surat. Kumbhani had been incommunicado since April 22 and was later suspended by the Congress, which accused him of “connivance with the BJP.” The Lok Sabha polls in Gujarat were held in a single phase on May 7, and the results for 25 out of the state’s 26 seats will be declared on June 4.

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