Surat Replay: Congress Loses Second Candidate Right Before Election – Joins BJP

Akshay Bam, the Congress candidate for Indore in Madhya Pradesh, withdrew from the race and joined the BJP today. This surprising development was revealed in a post by senior Madhya Pradesh BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya, who proudly displayed a photo of the candidate in a car, welcoming him into the BJP under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party national president JP Nadda, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, and state president VD Sharma.

Today marked the deadline for nominations for Indore, which is scheduled to vote in the fourth phase of elections on May 13. District Collector Ashish Singh confirmed that three candidates, including Congress’ Bam, withdrew their nominations in accordance with due procedure, which was also videographed.

Akshay Bam visited the district collector’s office to retract his candidacy, accompanied by BJP MLA Ramesh Mendola. The Congress had nominated Bam, a political newcomer aged 45, to contest against the incumbent BJP MP Shankar Lalwani in Indore, which has the largest electorate in Madhya Pradesh.

This move came as several party workers, including three former MLAs, have recently switched to the BJP in Madhya Pradesh. The Congress suffered another setback when a candidate in Gujarat’s Surat withdrew last week, leading to the unopposed victory of the BJP’s Mukesh Dalal.

Responding to these events, local Congress leaders in Indore expressed disappointment and questioned the leadership’s decision to select Mr. Bam as their candidate. During the scrutiny of nominations, the BJP’s legal cell had objected to Mr. Bam’s nomination form for failing to mention an attempt to murder case in a 17-year-old land dispute under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

However, the objection was overruled, and his nomination was accepted as the charge was added on the day he filed the nomination.