Ahead of poll, Congress candidate for Indore withdraws, joins BJP

INDORE: Congress suffered a stunning blow as its Indore candidate Akshay Kanti Bam withdrew his nomination for the LS polls and joined BJP on Monday, hours after leading a Congress campaign rally.

BJP’s sitting MP Shankar Lalwani now has no real challenger left in Indore. It’s the first time ever that Congress doesn’t have a candidate in this seat. Indore votes May 13 and the last day for filing of nomination was April 25. Congress will now have to find someone among the 13 non-BJP contestants left in the fray to support.

PCC chief Jitu Patwari, who is also from Indore, accused BJP of pressure politics. “Recently a case of attempted murder was registered against Bam in an old case. He was terrorised by various means and forced to withdraw the nomination,” Patwari alleged in Gwalior. On April 24, a local court had ordered addition of attempt-to-murder charges against Bam in a 17-year-old case in Indore’s Khajrana area. BJP had, in fact, objected to Bam’s nomination on the day of scrutiny, referring to this court order and accusing him of hiding facts in the affidavit.
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