Another Jolt To Congress! Indore Candidate Akshay Bam Joins BJP Ahead Of Voting

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

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

Senior BJP leader and state cabinet minister Kailash Vijayvargiya warmly welcomed Mr. Bam into the BJP fold in a post on X, expressing gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party national president JP Nadda, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, and state president VD Sharma for his inclusion.

This development comes shortly after the rejection of Congress leader Nilesh Kumbhani's nomination form for the Surat Lok Sabha seat 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.

Also read: Delhi Congress Chief Arvinder Singh Lovely Resigns, Cites Interference In Party Affairs

Mr. Kumbhani, a former Surat corporator, had previously contested the 2022 Assembly polls in Kamrej constituency without success.

On April 22, BJP's Mukesh Dalal won uncontested for the Surat Lok Sabha constituency after all other candidates, including one from the BSP, withdrew their nominations successively.