Indore, 29 April

In a major blow to the Congress in Madhya Pradesh, its Indore Lok Sabha seat candidate Akshay Kanti Bam withdrew his nomination on Monday, a fortnight before polling in the constituency.

After withdrawing his nomination, Bam reached the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office here. In a photo released by the BJP on social media, Bam was seen along with MP Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda, state cabinet minister Kailash Vijayvargiya and other party leaders. Bam is set join the BJP, party sources said.

Monday is the last day for withdrawal of nomination in the Indore Lok Sabha seat, where polling will be held on 13 May. Indore Collector Ashish Singh confirmed that Bam has withdrawn his nomination.

Bam, accompanied by local BJP MLA Ramesh Mendola, reached the collector's office and withdrew his papers. On his way back, he left in a car with Mendola, ignoring questions from mediapersons.

Mendola is a trusted associate of Vijayvargiya. Collector Singh said, "Three candidates, including Congress' Bam, withdrew their nominations today as per the due procedure. The process has also been videographed."

Vijayvargiya posted a picture on his X account in which Bam was seen sitting in a car with him along with Mendola. The minister said Bam was welcome to join the BJP. "Congress Lok Sabha candidate from Indore Akshay Kanti Bam is welcome to the BJP under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party national president JP Nadda, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and state president VD Sharma," Vijayvargiya said.

Meanwhile, police have been deployed outside the house of Bam in Patrakar Colony. Local Congress leaders started gathering outside his house. The Congress had fielded Bam (45), a newbie in the poll arena, against sitting BJP MP Shankar Lalwani (62) from the Indore Lok Sabha seat, which is a stronghold of the saffron party.

Bam has not contested a single 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.