The 8 who withdrew in Surat: Their reasons, from ‘depression’ to ‘not wasting govt money’

While the Congress’s candidate from Surat whose papers were rejected, Nilesh Kumbhani, has not been seen in public but has claimed lack of support from own party ranks, the others too remain “missing”. A look at the eight, and their reasons for dropping out, in their words:

📌 Pyarelal Bharti, 58: After the Congress was ruled out from the race, Bharti, fielded by the BSP, was seen as the only viable challenge to BJP candidate Mukesh Dalal. The Congress and AAP, who are allies in Gujarat, also promised to support Bharti.

A native of Varanasi who is settled in Surat for the past 25 years, Bharti, however, stunned his party by declaring that he was withdrawing. In his affidavit, Bharti, who runs a weekly newspaper called Sharmik Shakti, put his education qualification as Class 10 and declared cash in hand of Rs 5,000 as part of his assets.

Bharti has contested elections in the past too – the 2014 parliamentary polls from Navsari, the 2022 Assembly elections from Varachha seat in Surat, and the 2021 Surat Municipal Corporation elections from the Khatodara ward. He lost every time.

BSP Surat president Satish Sonavne says that after coming to know of Kumbhani’s decision, the party feared that something was afoot and immediately got cracking. “We sent Pyarelal away to Vadodara to a party worker’s house, and got his clothes collected from home. We told him to switch off his phones.” But from there, Sonavne says, Bharti went “missing” and they later learnt that he had withdrawn his nomination. The whole family then stopped taking their calls, he says.

According to the BSP leader, they have still not been able to get in touch with Bharti or his family. Their rented Surat house is locked and the family is said to be currently in Varanasi.

📌 Bharatbhai Prajapati, 50: A worker in Surat’s diamond units for the past 30 years, Bharatbhai originally belongs to Amreli district. His affidavit says he has studied till Class 5, earns Rs 15,000-20,000 a month and has Rs 30,000 cash in hand.

Contacted by The Indian Express, Bharatbhai said his decision to contest was motivated by his “fondness” for politics, which he follows closely in newspapers and on TV. “I thought about contesting myself and filed my nomination from the Surat Lok Sabha seat as an Independent. I thought my form would be rejected, but then it was accepted. I went into depression about how I would contest. Even my blood pressure went down and I fell ill. My family members then told me to withdraw.”

📌 Kishor Dayani, 45: A Patidar who is into share market brokerage, Dayani filed nomination as an Independent. His affidavit declared cash of Rs 7.48 lakh and said he has studied up to Class 11.

Also a first-time contestant, Dayani told The Indian Express he felt “there should be somebody to raise the issues of the common people”. About his withdrawal, he says, “The community people including BJP leaders came to me and told me that all the candidates had withdrawn after the Congress candidate’s form was rejected. They said that if I alone do not withdraw, an election would be held with lakhs of rupees of the government wasted.”

Dayani says the Congress approached him, asking him to stay in the race and offering support. “However, I thought, why waste lakhs of rupees of the government. So I decided to withdraw.”

He adds that it is not the end of the road for him. “I believe there should be a strong Opposition, so I always vote for the party which has less chances to win. I will contest the next Assembly elections and parliamentary polls.”

📌 Sohel Shaikh, 31: A resident of Gopipura, Shaikh deals in sale and purchase of used cars. He filed his nomination as a candidate of the ‘Bahujan Republican Socialist Party’, declaring educational qualification of Class 8 and cash of Rs 60,000 in hand.

Shaikh says he decided to contest because of his interest in elections. “But then I got thinking about how I would contest as I don’t have many supporters. So I lost interest and decided to withdraw.”

📌 Jayesh Mevada, 54: A resident of Saiyedpura Tuki, Mevada filed his nomination as a candidate of the ‘Global Republican Party’. In his affidavit, he showed cash of Rs 5,000 in hand and mentioned working as a reporter for a monthly newspaper after studying till Class 12.

Talking to The Indian Express, Mevada said, “I run Vanchit Vani weekly newspaper (on marginalised voices) and was hence interested in fighting the elections. But after seeing the rejection of the Congress candidate’s nomination and the withdrawal of the others, I also withdrew. I don’t want to say anything more.”

📌 Baraiya Ramesh, 58: A resident of Varachha, Ramesh filed his nomination as an Independent, declaring that he had passed Class 6 and had an annual income of Rs 5.54 lakh, with Rs 70,000 cash in hand.

Ramesh, originally from Amreli district, says he has “retired” from his work as commission agent gathering sarees for decoration work.

He told The Indian Express: “I contested the Assembly elections from Karanj in 2017 as an Independent, and followed it up with the 2019 Surat lok Sabha contest and the 2022 Karanj polls. This time, the election was quite difficult. I would not have withdrawn, but seeing the situation of the Congress candidate and the other Independents who withdrew, I too decided to give up.”

Adding that he had to rush to Amreli to be with his ailing mother, Ramesh said: “I tried to contact Congress leaders in the state but they didn’t respond. If they had declared support for me, I would have definitely contested.”

📌 Abdul Hamid Khan, 52: A native of Gonda in Uttar Pradesh settled in Surat for 20 years and working as a contractor in interior decoration, Khan filed his nomination as a candidate of the ‘Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Party’. He declared his educational qualification as Class 7, and an annual income of Rs 4.75 lakh, with cash in hand of Rs 5 lakh.

Khan told The Indian Express: “I have done hard work and earned a lot from the city, and have an interest in politics. So I decided to contest from Surat city. This was my first poll attempt.”

Khan, whose photo with BJP state president C R Paatil, who belongs to Surat, went viral after his withdrawal, said he took the decision “due to some personal reasons”. “I don’t want to share them.”

📌 Ajit Sinh Umat, 39: A resident of Jahangirpura area, Umat filed his nomination as an Independent and mentioned doing “private work” in his affidavit.

He could not be reached despite repeated attempts.