BJP has won its first Lok Sabha seat. Here's how and why Mukesh Dalal won Surat uncontested

In 1952, Anand Chand, an independent candidate, became the first Lok Sabha MP to be elected unopposed.

The ruling BJP has notched its first win in the Lok Sabha elections even before polling has been completed and votes counted.

Last week, the ruling party’s Surat candidate Mukesh Dalal joined a select list of 29 MPs to be elected unopposed to the Lok Sabha since 1952, when the first election of Independent India was held. Dalal was named the winner on April 22 after all his opponents, including Congress’ Nilesh Kumbhani, withdrew their nominations.

Kumbhani’s candidature was rejected after the district returning officer alleged that there were discrepancies in the signatures of the people who proposed his name.

The nomination form of Suresh Padsala, the Congress’ backup candidate, met the same fate. After the Election Commission rejected Kumbhani's nomination, eight other contestants withdrew their papers and Dalal won the seat without a vote being cast.

Surat would have gone to polls on May 7 when polling for all 26 seats in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is scheduled.

Moneycontrol brings to you what the law says about candidates getting elected unopposed and the procedure that guides it.

 How a candidate is elected unopposed?

Section 53 (3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 deals with the matter of uncontested elections.

According to Section 53 (3), if the number of candidates is less than the number of seats, the returning officer can announce all such candidates to be elected.

Section 33 of the Act dictates the actions of the returning officer, who is responsible for overseeing elections, and also about nomination papers and what makes for a valid document.

According to the Handbook for Returning Officers (Edition 2), if only one candidate is contesting from a constituency, the nominee should be announced as elected just after the last hour for the withdrawal of the candidature.

And that is what happened in Surat on April 22. Dalal was handed over the winning certificate at the end of the last day of withdrawal of nomination papers.

How did it begin?

In 1952, Anand Chand, an independent candidate, became the first Lok Sabha MP to be elected unopposed. Chand was the 44th ruler of the erstwhile princely state of Bilaspur, which at the time was a Lok Sabha constituency. Bilaspur is now a part of Himachal Pradesh’s Hamirpur constituency.

The most MPs elected unopposed in a single election were five each in 1952, 1957, and 1967, an Indian Express report said.

With four MPs, J&K has seen the highest number of Lok Sabha members elected unopposed since 1952.

Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh are among eight states, which have sent more than one member to the Lok Sabha uncontested.

Late deputy prime minister and former Maharashtra CM YB Chavan (Nashik), former J&K CM and National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah (Srinagar), former CM and former governor SC Jamir (Nagaland) and Odisha’s first CM Harekrushna Mahatab (Angul) are some of the prominent leaders elected to the Lok Sabha at least once without a contest. Former union ministers PM Sayeed (Lakshadweep) and KL Rao from Vijayawada, too, have been elected unopposed.

Before Dalal, Samajwadi Party leader Dimple Yadav won unopposed from the Kannauj Lok Sabha seat in a 2012 bypoll after two candidates withdrew in her favour.