The BJP's Mukesh Dalal has become the first candidate in the last 12 years to win a Lok Sabha election unopposed. In addition, he could be the first BJP candidate to win a parliamentary election without facing any opposition.
After all other candidates withdrew from the race, Dalal was elected without opposition from the Surat Lok Sabha constituency today, according to a poll official. A day prior, Nilesh Kumbhani of the Congress lost his candidacy because the district returning officer initially discovered inconsistencies in the proposers' signatures.
This is the first victory of the BJP in the ongoing seven-phased Lok Sabha elections.