Major blow to Congress as Indore candidate defects to BJP ahead of elections

The fourth phase of the current elections will see voting for the Indore parliamentary constituency on May 13th.

In a significant blow to the Congress party, its candidate for the Lok Sabha seat in Indore, Akshay Bam, has withdrawn from the race and joined the BJP, just days before the constituency heads to the polls. Accompanied by BJP MLA Ramesh Mendola, Bam visited the Collector's office to officially retract his candidacy.

Congress had fielded Bam against the incumbent BJP MP of Indore, Shankar Lalwani. The voting for the Indore parliamentary constituency is scheduled for the fourth phase of the ongoing elections on May 13.

On various online platforms, Kailash Vijayvargiya, a notable leader within the BJP and serving as a state cabinet minister, offered a sincere greeting to Bam upon his transition to the BJP. Vijayvargiya expressed, "We enthusiastically welcome Akshay Kanti Bam, who contested for the Lok Sabha on behalf of the Congress in Indore, into the BJP. Following Bam's withdrawal, local Congress leaders expressed disappointment and raised questions about the party high command's decision to nominate him for the elections.

"This move by Akshay Bam was anticipated by our party leaders. We had foreseen that he would withdraw his nomination. It's disheartening that despite years of service by dedicated party workers like us, the ticket was awarded to individuals like him," remarked local Congress leader Devendra Singh Yadav to NDTV.

This development comes shortly after the nomination form of Congress leader Nilesh Kumbhani for the Surat Lok Sabha seat was rejected due to discrepancies in the signatures of his proposers. Similarly, the nomination form of Suresh Padsala, the Congress' alternative candidate for Surat, faced a similar fate for identical reasons.

Kumbhani, a former Surat corporator, had previously contested the 2022 Assembly polls in Kamrej constituency but was unsuccessful.

On April 22, BJP's Mukesh Dalal emerged victorious uncontested for the Surat Lok Sabha constituency, following the withdrawal of all other candidates, including one from the BSP, who withdrew their nominations successively.