In Surat repeat, Congress’ Indore candidate pulls out, joins BJP

Bhopal: In another blow to Congress after the Surat fiasco, Akshay Kanti Bamb, the Congress’ Indore candidate, on Monday withdrew his nomination for the Lok Sabha elections and joined the BJP. Eight independents withdrew their candidature, leaving 14 candidates including the BJP’s Shankar Lalwani in the fray.

Last week, the BJP had marked its first victory in Lok Sabha polls from Surat in Gujarat after the nomination form of Congress candidate Nilesh Kumbhani was rejected over discrepancies, and other contestants opted out of the race. This ensured that the BJP nominee Mukesh Dalal was elected unopposed.

In Indore, Congress candidate Bamb moved the local returning officer’s office along with BJP MLA Ramesh Mandola in the afternoon to withdraw his candidature.

State minister Kailash Vijayvargiya later posted a photograph on his X account showing him in the company of Bamb. He said the BJP welcomed Bamb into the party.

Polling in Indore will be held on May 13, Monday was the last date for the withdrawal of nominations.

Incidentally, Bamb hails from the hometown of state Congress president Jitu Patwari and is said to be his confidant.

Patwari accused the BJP of taking recourse to coercive measures to force Bamb to withdraw his candidature.

“An additional section under Indian Penal Code (IPC) was added to an old case to put pressure on him to withdraw candidature. This clearly indicates that democracy in the country is in danger”, he said.

Sources said that the Congress was planning to support one of the independents in the fray.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said the Congress had forced its leaders to enter the fray though they feared defeat. He also demanded the resignation of PCC president Patwari.

Earlier this month, the nomination of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc candidate Meera Yadav of the Samajwadi Party from Khajuraho, was rejected over discrepancies, forcing the Congress to extend its support to the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) candidate R.B. Prajapati to take on the BJP.

State BJP president Vishnu Dutt Sharma was seeking re-election in the Khajuraho LS seat which went to polls in the second phase polling in the state on April 26.