2 min readAhmedabadMar 4, 2026 01:36 AM IST
Nilesh Kumbhani, the Congress candidate from the Surat Lok Sabha seat in 2024, who was seen as the main challenger to the BJP candidate until his nomination was rejected, was recently seen with Union Jal Shakti Minister C R Patil. Patil last Saturday visited Kumbhani’s factory at Rajula in Amreli district. After Kumbhani’s nomination was rejected and others withdrew their nominations, BJP’s Mukesh Dalal became the first candidate to be declared unanimously elected in the country in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The Congress has suspended Kumbhani from the party for six years stating that his nomination was rejected due to “gross negligence on his part” or his action “in connivance with the BJP”. A video of Patil seated next to Kumbhani during Saturday’s visit has gone viral on social media. Talking to The Indian Express, Kumbhani, who stays in Surat, said, “I came to know that C R Patil is going to visit the market yard at Rajula and address the public on February 28, so I invited him to my factory near the market yard. He visited the factory along with BJP MLAs, MPs, including senior BJP leader Dilip Sanghani. It was just a tea party and after a chit chat, he and others left. I am a suspended Congress leader and I have no plans to join the BJP as of now.”
