The controversy surrounding Nilesh Kumbhani, the Congress party's Surat constituency candidate who gave a walkover to the BJP, refuses to die down even after five days. On Thursday, his wife Nita Kumbhani appeared before the media and claimed that her husband Nilesh Kumbhani has been missing since the last five days.
Nita, speaking to media persons, said, "When Nilesh left home, he told me he was going to the Gujarat High Court in Ahmedabad, and since then, he has been unreachable and is missing. I have no idea about his whereabouts."
She also alleged that two days ago, Congress workers staged a protest at her residence in her husband's absence and even chanted slogans, and the house was locked as she had gone out to buy school uniforms for her children.
The District Collector and returning officer had rejected Congress candidate Nilesh Kumbhani's nomination on the grounds that supporters had appeared before the district collector and informed him that they had not signed Kumbhani's candidature, and their signatures were forged. The collector had given Kumbhani 24 hours to come with supporters supporting his candidature, but he failed to do so.
Congress party's legal cell member and advocate Zamir Shaikh had hinted that something was fishy while the forms were being filled by Nilesh Kumbhani. Party sources said Zamir Shaikh had informed the state unit president and other leaders that Kumbhani had not shown his candidature form for legal clearance. He suspected that something was wrong, but party leaders did not take his complaint seriously.
On Thursday, Congress party workers came forward, alleging that there was no question of forged signatures, as Kumbhani's relatives had signed in support of his candidature, and they were present in Kumbhani's office when they signed the form.
There is a lot of murmuring within the party that some senior leaders have betrayed the party, and Kumbhani is just a tool. State unit vice president Kadir Pirzada told local media that a leader from Surat had suggested the party nominate a Patidar candidate, but he had never recommended Nilesh Kumbhani's name. He claimed that he had little idea that Kumbhani would betray the party in this way.