By : Shrishti Mehra
On Monday, Congress politician Akshay Kanti Bam withdrew his nomination for the Indore constituency ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
The Congress suffered another blow on Monday when its leader, Akshay Kanti Bam, withdrew his candidacy from the Indore seat in front of the Lok Sabha polls, according to news agency PTI.
Bam has been named by the Congress to challenge incumbent BJP MP Shankar Lalwani in the Indore Lok Sabha constituency, where the fourth phase of voting is scheduled for May 13.
Kailash Vijayvargiya, a senior BJP leader and Indore MLA, welcomed Bam to the party shortly after his withdrawal. “We welcome Shri Akshay Kanti Bam ji, Congress Lok Sabha candidate from Indore in the BJP, under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, National President JP Nadda, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, and State President VD Sharma,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, along with a photo of him in a car.
https://x.com/KailashOnline/status/1784833669850403270
Nilesh Kumbhani, the Congress candidate for Surat, withdrew from the election earlier this month after his candidacy was disqualified due to apparent inconsistencies in the proposers’ signatures, as reported by the district returning officer. Suresh Padsala, the party’s replacement candidate for the seat, also had his nomination form turned down.
In the midst of the grand old party’s consecutive defeats, Kumbhani alleged that his party comrades did not support him during the election campaign. However, the Congress retaliated, claiming that Kumbhani’s cancellation of the nomination was part of a “plan” and suspending him from the party for six years.
Along with Pyarelal Bharti of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), eight other candidates—mostly independents—also chose to withdraw their nominations from Surat. Following this, the BJP scored its first-ever victory in the Lok Sabha elections on April 22, when Mukesh Dalal, the party’s candidate from the Gujarat Surat constituency, defeated all opponents.
In the third round of the Lok Sabha general elections, which takes place on May 7, voting will take place for additional seats in Gujarat. The outcome will be made public on June 4.