Cong Surat nominee goes off grid

Surfaces in Goa amid buzz he is joining BJP

- MELVYN THOMAS

Nilesh Kumbhani, the man who has created a political commotion by allegedly orchestrating his own disqualification from the Surat Lok Sabha seat, is learnt to have abruptly gone off the grid only to surface in Goa with his family, even as the Congress and AAP workers staged demonstrations outside his house in Sarthana in Surat.

On his return, speculations are rife that Kumbhani may join the BJP and reap a big reward for his 'about-turn,' possibly a ticket for the upcoming Surat Municipal Corporation elections.

to sources, According Kumbhani had been in contact with a former Patidar Anamat Andolan Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader who is now associated with a mainstream party in the Saurashtra region. After he was nominated by the Congress for the Surat seat, Kumbhani reached out to the PAAS leader and they held a hush-hush meeting. It is widely believed that Kumbhani and the PAAS leader, with the support of powers that be, orchestrated the entire plot of 'operation unopposed'.

Numerous theories have been doing the rounds since the returning officer declared Mukesh Dalal from the BJP as the uncontested candidate.