Lok Sabha polls: What is an uncontested election? How does it work?

The BJP has drawn first blood in the Lok Sabha polls.

Its candidate Mukesh Dalal was elected unopposed from Surat Lok Sabha constituency on Monday after all the other candidates withdrew from the race.

But what is an uncontested election? How does it work?

Let’s take a closer look:

What is it? How does it work?

An uncontested election is when a candidate is declared the winner without a single vote being cast.

As per Mint, the Election Commission of India in its handbook for returning officers spells out how uncontested elections work.

It states: “If in any constituency there is only one contesting candidate, declare that candidate to have been duly elected immediately after the last hour for withdrawal of candidature. In that event, a poll is not necessary."

This occurs when all other contesting candidates either drop out of the race or their candidacy is rejected.

Which is exactly what happened on Monday – the final day of withdrawal of papers – when a slew of candidates including Congress’ Nilesh Kumbhani, four Independents, three from smaller parties and Pyarelal Bharti of Bahujan Samaj Party dropped out.

Kumbhani’s candidacy was rejected after a preliminary examination revealed inconsistencies in the signatures of proposers, an election official told PTI.

The nomination form of Suresh Padsala, the Congress’ “substitute” candidate from Surat, was also invalidated.

According to Hindustan Times, as per election nomination rules, a candidate endorsed by a recognised political party needs at least one voter from the constituency to propose their candidacy.

But if the candidate is Independent or nominated by an unrecognised political party, 10 voters from the constituency must sign the nomination paper.

“I declare that Mukeshkumar Chandrakant Dalal, sponsored by the BJP, has been duly elected to fill the seat in the House from Surat parliamentary constituency,” district collector cum election officer Saurabh Pardhi said as he handed over the Certificate of Election to Dalal.

Surat has presented the first Lotus to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I congratulate our candidate for Surat Lok Sabha seat Mukesh Dalal for getting elected unopposed," state BJP president C R Paatil posted on X.

Has this happened before?

Since Independence, this has happened on more than two dozen occasions.

Indeed, in 1951, during the very first general elections, five candidates were elected unopposed.

These included TA Ramalinga Chettiar of the Indian National Congress in Coimbatore, T Sangana from Orissa’s Rayagada Phulbani, the INC’s Anand Chand from Bilaspur, Major General HS Major Gen MS Himatsinhji from  Saurashtra’s Halar, and Krishna Charya Joshi from Hyderabad’s Yadgir.

Seven more candidates were elected unopposed to the Lok Sabha in 1951.

The last time a person was elected unopposed to the Lok Sabha – not including bypolls – was Mohammad Shafi Bhat of the National Conference.

Bhat won unopposed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar all the way back in 1989.

Prior to that, Farooq Abdullah, also from the National Conference, was elected unopposed from Srinagar in 1980.

When it comes to the bypolls, Dimple Yadav won unopposed from the Kannauj Lok Sabha seat in 2012, as per India Today.

That occurred after the two other candidates for the constituency withdrew their nominations.

Congress slams BJP

The Congress claimed the BJP was frightened by the anger of MSME owners and the business community and attempted “match-fixing” even in the Surat Lok Sabha seat which the ruling party has been winning since 1984.

The party claimed that Kumbhani’s nomination form was rejected at the behest of the BJP and vowed to challenge the rejection in the High Court.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh claimed that democracy is under threat.

“‘Aap chronology samajhiye’ (Understand the chronology): Surat District Election Officer rejects the Congress’ candidate for Surat Lok Sabha Nilesh Kumbhani’s nomination for ‘discrepancies in the verification of signatures of three proposers’. On similar grounds, officials reject the nomination of Suresh Padsala, the INC’s substitute candidate from Surat. The Congress is left without a candidate,” he said on X.

“All other candidates withdraw their nomination except the BJP’s candidate, Mukesh Dalal. The BJP candidate declared ’elected unopposed’ from Surat Lok Sabha seat on April 22, 2024, nearly two weeks before polling on May 7, 2024,” Ramesh added.

“Our elections, our democracy, Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Constitution – all are under a generational threat. This is the most important election of our lifetime,” Ramesh said.

A Congress candidate claimed that the BJP is trying to break the opposition using money acquired through corrupt means.

“People are watching this and they will give a befitting reply to the ruling party,” said Congress candidate for Rajkot seat, Paresh Dhanani.

Paatil told reporters in Surat that going by the way people are extending their support to BJP, everyone is confident of achieving the target of 400 seats.

He said the BJP will win the remaining 25 seats in Gujarat, where voting will be held on 7 May in a single phase.

“Congress did a drama ahead of the election by claiming that the proposers of its candidate had been kidnapped. That allegation was refuted by their candidate himself. The party leaders then tried to put pressure on poll authorities and spread rumours. But, truth ultimately prevailed today,” Paatil said.

In the 2019 polls, BJP won all 26 constituencies in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

With inputs from agencies