In a major blow to Congress ahead of the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections, its Indore candidate Akshay Kanti Bam withdrew his nomination on Monday, and hours later joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Confirming the news, Indore Collector Ashish Singh stated that Akshay withdrew his nomination.
In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), Senior BJP leader and state cabinet minister Kailash Vijayvargiya shared an image in which Akshay can be seen sitting inside the car with him. Along with them, Local BJP MLA Ramesh Mendola was also witnessed. Mendola is a close aide of Vijayvargiya.
The minister stated that 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.
As a new entrant in the Lok Sabha polls, Congress had fielded Akshay against the incumbent BJP MP Shankar Lalwani from the Indore Lok Sabha constituency.
Voting in Indore Lok Sabha seat is scheduled to be held on May 13.
In the meantime, police have been positioned outside Bam's house in Patrakar Colony. Local Congress leaders began gathering outside his residence. In his political career, Akshay has not fought any elections so far.
The Congress offered him the opportunity to fight from Indore at a time when various party workers, including three former MLAs of the party, have left the party and joined the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
Indore, the largest constituency in the state in terms of the number of voters, has 25.13 lakh electors. The BJP has expressed confidence in winning the seat by a margin of eight lakh votes this time.