Surat Congress candidate Kumbhani goes ‘missing’ amid BJP-switch buzz

The series of dramatic events surrounding the Surat Lok Sabha seat continues, with both Congress candidates for the seat, Nilesh Kumbhani and his spare Suresh Padshala, going “missing”.

Kumbhani’s nomination was rejected by the Election Commission over discrepancies in the signature of his proposers. Padshala’s candidature also got rejected on similar grounds.

Now, the local Congress unit believes Kumbhani will join the BJP, for which he is in Goa, accompanied by some local BJP workers. It is not yet known what happened to Padshala.

The Federal has already reported the strange circumstances under which BJP candidate Mukesh Dalal got elected to the seat “unopposed”, with as many as eight candidates withdrawing nominations and the BSP candidate similarly going “missing” before doing so. There have been allegations of threats and mysterious disappearances by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as well.

Kumbhani’s vanishing act

Kumbhani has been unreachable over phone, say his party colleagues, and he is not at his Surat residence either.

Notably, hours after Dalal being declared the winner from the Surat seat, Prafull Togadia, Congress’s former Leader of the Opposition in Surat Corporation, told the local media that Kumbhani might have voluntarily sabotaged his candidature and was waiting to join the BJP.

Enraged, Congress workers stomped off and gathered outside Kumbhani’s house, only to find it locked and deserted.

“Kumbhani hasn’t been seen since he left the DEO’s [district election officer] office. All calls have gone unanswered and his house remains locked. Even his family is not at home,” said a local Congress worker from Surat who had visited Kumbhani’s his house.

“People’s traitor”

Furious Congress workers have protested outside Kumbhani’s locked house and pasted posters reading “Janata no gaddar (people’s traitor)” and “Lokshahi no hatyaro (murderer of democracy)” on the main door.

The Surat police later detained former Congress councillor Dinesh Savaliya, his wife Naynaben, and other Congress workers from outside Kumbhani’s residence.

A livid Savaliya was sure Kumbhani was going to join the BJP. “Kumbhani had filled in three forms for sure. His proposers were his business partner and two relatives — nephew and brother-in-law. It is difficult to believe that he could not reach them to verify the signatures at the DEO’s office,” he fumed.

“He has betrayed not only the Congress but also 18 lakh voters of Surat,” Savaliya added.

In Goa?

Togadiya claimed Kumbhani is in Goa, waiting to join the BJP.

“Kumbhani told all of us that he was leaving for Ahmedabad to file a case in High Court against the cancellation of his candidature. But later, we found out that he never went to Ahmedabad. He is instead in Goa, accompanied by some local BJP workers. He will soon join the BJP. Some politically influential Patidar diamond industrialists from Surat are mediating for him with the BJP senior leaders,” said Togadiya.

AAP memorandum

Meanwhile, the AAP in Gujarat has submitted a memorandum to the Surat District Collector and DEO, Saurabh Parghi, demanding that a criminal case be registered against Kumbhani.

“We have requested that if Kumbhani is indeed found to be involved is submitting nomination forms with forged signatures, a criminal case should be registered against him and those who are involved in this conspiracy,” said Manoj Sorathiya, the AAP General Secretary of Gujarat.

“We also want the Election Commission to find out why the other candidates withdrew their forms, whether they were under pressure, or they were lured with monetary benefits,” Sorathiya added.

Who is Nilesh Kumbhani?

Kumbhani (44), a Leuva Patel leader and small-scale real estate businessman, rose to prominence during the Patidar reservation agitation in 2016. He was one of the Patel youths to join Hardik Patel in the agitation and was instrumental in leading the protests in Surat. Following the protests, Kumbhani was slapped with 17 cases, both criminal and civil.

“His role in gathering over 6 lakh people in a protest rally led by Hardik in Surat brought him close to Hardik. Eventually, his proximity to Hardik Patel got him into mainstream politics,” said Gautam Shah, a Gujarat-based political analyst.

While Hardik Patel switched to the BJP from Congress ahead of the 2022 state polls, Kumbhani was still with the Congress.

In 2017, he won a municipal election from Surat. In 2022, he was the Congress candidate from Surat’s Kamrej seat, but he lost. However, Congress picked him as the Lok Sabha candidate as he is a Patidar. “Patels comprise about 50 per cent of the total electorate in Surat,” said Saktisinh Gohil, GPCC chief.