The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had approached Independent candidates in Gujarat’s Surat, and asked them to withdraw their nominations for the Lok Sabha election, the party’s national general secretary Vinod Tawde said on April 23. This led the BJP’s Mukeshkumar Dalal to become the first Lok Sabha candidate in 12 years to win unopposed.
“We requested the Independent candidates [to withdraw], and they withdrew. Which part of this led to a decline in the level of politics?” Mr. Tawde replied when asked if the BJP has stooped to a political low.
This was during a media interaction in Mumbai on April 23, where Mr. Tawde had himself accused the Congress of stooping to a new low in politics; this after the Opposition party’s South Goa candidate Captain Viriato Fernandes had remarked that the Constitution was forced upon Goans.
