Royals, bribery charges, mystery withdrawals: In unopposed Lok Sabha poll wins, a familiar script

With a month-and-a-half to go for the results of the Lok Sabha polls to be announced on June 4, the BJP has already won its first seat. On Monday, a day after the nomination of the Congress candidate from Surat was rejected, the BJP’s Mukesh Dalal was declared elected uncontested from the Lok Sabha seat, after the eight remaining nominees withdrew.

It is uncommon for a Lok Sabha candidate to be elected unopposed – Dalal is only the 29th MP since 1952, when the first elections were held, to have won uncontested, including through bypolls. The most MPs elected unopposed in a single election were in 1952, 1957, and 1967, at five each.

Since 1952, J&K has seen the most MPs elected unopposed at four. Only eight states have sent more than one legislator to Parliament uncontested, including Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh.

The Congress has seen the most MPs get elected unopposed at 20. The National Conference (NC) and Samajwadi Party (SP) follow with two each. Just one Independent has won the parliamentary election unopposed. Dalal is the first BJP MP in this list.

Only two Lok Sabha seats have seen an MP elected unopposed more than once – Sikkim and Srinagar.

Among the notable MPs who were elected unopposed are former Deputy Prime Minister and Maharashtra CM Y B Chavan from Nasik; former J&K CM and NC chief Farooq Abdullah from Srinagar; former Nagaland CM and ex-Governor of four states S C Jamir; Odisha’s first CM Harekrushna Mahatab from Angul; former member of the Constituent Assembly and Congress leader T T Krishnamachari from Tamil Nadu’s Tiruchendur; and former Union Ministers P M Sayeed from Lakshadweep and K L Rao from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh.

In the first election of 1952, Anand