Congress candidate withdraws nomination, joins BJP ahead of Indore elections

Indore (Team Newsbuddy ) : On Monday, Akshay Kanti Bam, a Congress candidate from Indore, made a surprising move by withdrawing his nomination, dealing a blow to his party during the ongoing polling period. Bam opted to join the BJP, reaching out to BJP MLA Ramesh Mendola to facilitate his withdrawal from the race. This development unfolded amidst the Lok Sabha elections, just a fortnight before voting in the Indore-Malwa region. Kailash Vijaywargiya, a senior BJP leader and MLA from Indore, welcomed Bam into the BJP fold through a social media post, accompanied by a photo of the two. The caption expressed warm regards for Bam and acknowledged his decision to align with the BJP leadership, including PM Narendra Modi, National President JP Nadda, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, and State President VD Sharma. It’s noteworthy that April 29 marked the deadline for withdrawing nominations in the Indore-Malwa region, which is set for voting in phase-4 on May 13. This situation bears resemblance to the recent incident in Surat, Gujarat, where BJP candidate Mukesh Dalal was declared elected unopposed after all opposing candidates, including Congress nominee Nilesh Khumbhani, withdrew their candidacies on the last day of withdrawal, April 22. Reacting to the development, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi criticized it as reminiscent of “Russian-style democracy”.