Congress Indore Candidate Withdraws Lok Sabha Nomination, Kailash Vijayvargiya 'Welcomes' Him To BJP

Congress leader Akshay Bam on Monday withdrew his nomination from Indore constituency on Monday, according to reports.

Indore Collector Ashish Singh confirmed that Bam has withdrawn his nomination from the seat where the BJP has fielded sitting MP Shankar Lalwani.

Senior BJP leader and Madhya Pradesh Cabinet Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya also tweeted a photo with Bam in his car and said he welcomes the Congress nominee in the party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

It may be noted that today is the last of withdrawing nomination and the polling in Indore will be held on May 13 in phase 4 of Lok Sabha elections.

Meanwhile, police have been deployed outside Bam’s house in Patrakar Colony. Local Congress leaders started gathering outside his house. Bam has not contested any election in his political career so far. The Congress offered him the opportunity to contest from Indore at a time when several party workers, including three former MLAs of the party, have switched sides and joined the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Indore, the largest constituency in the state in terms of number of voters, has 25.13 lakh electors. The BJP has expressed confidence of winning the seat by a margin of eight lakh votes this time.

In Madhya Pradesh, which is considered as BJP’s stronghold, the party won 28 out of 29 parliamentary seats in 2019, barring one seat of Chhindwara, where former Chief Minister Kamal Nath’s son Nakul Nath registered victory.

The BJP has already opened its account for 2024 elections, winning the Surat Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat. BJP candidate from Gujarat’s Surat, Mukesh Dalal, won the Lok Sabha elections unopposed after the nomination paper of Congress’ pick was rejected and other candidates withdrew from the race. The nomination of the grand old party’s candidate from Surat, Nilesh Kumbhani, was rejected after the district returning officer prima facie found discrepancies in the signature of the proposers. Then, the nomination form of Congress’ substitute candidate, Suresh Padsala, was also declared invalid.

Notably, on the last day of withdrawal of the nomination forms on Monday, as many as 8 candidates which included mostly Independents and Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP) Pyarelal Bharti, withdrew their papers.

Of the 24 nominations filed, 12 including two Congress’ candidates were rejected while 12 others withdrew.

The last time someone won uncontested in the general election was back in 1989, when Mohammad Shafi Bhat of the National Conference won unopposed from the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat in Jammu and Kashmir.

(With PTI inputs)

Check Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Schedule, Key Candidates And Constituencies At News18 Website.