With only two phases of the Lok Sabha elections completed, Congress has received another setback. Following Surat, their candidate from the Indore Lok Sabha seat has also retracted their steps. Party candidate Akshay Kanti Bom has withdrawn his nomination. Moreover, he severed ties with Congress and has joined the BJP camp, as claimed by BJP senior leader and Madhya Pradesh Cabinet Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya.
Now 14 candidates remain in the fray for the Indore seat after a total of 23 nominations were filed, with 9 withdrawn. Thus, the competition for the Indore Lok Sabha seat will now be among these 14 candidates, including the sitting BJP MP Shankar Lalwani.
Akshay was set to contest his first-ever election,
Congress had granted Akshay Kanti Bom the ticket for the Indore Lok Sabha seat. He backed out by withdrawing his nomination just days before the scheduled voting. The State Congress President Jeetu Patwari has accused the BJP of intimidating, threatening, and torturing Akshay Bom, who has never fought an election in his political career to date.
Akshay Kanti Bom faces three lawsuits,
Akshay Kanti Bom is facing three separate cases, all mentioned in his election affidavit. One of these cases recently led to the addition of an attempted murder charge against him. Bom declared a total property worth INR 57 crores in his affidavit, with an annual income of 2.63 crores. He is also reported to possess 41 kilograms of silver and 275 grams of gold.
The BJP expresses confidence in a significant victory,
The Congress had fielded him in a challenging time, as former legislators and many activists had already switched over to the BJP before the Lok Sabha elections. Indore, being the largest constituency by voter count in the state with over 25.13 lakh voters, has the BJP confident in winning this seat by a margin of eight lakh votes.
Nominations for the Indore Lok Sabha seat were filed till April 25th, with April 29th being the last day for withdrawal. Voting for the Lok Sabha elections in Indore will take place on May 13th, and the counting of votes will be completed on June 4th.
What happened in Surat?
Recently, in Gujarat's Surat Lok Sabha seat, the BJP's Mukesh Dalal was declared the uncontested winner. Congress's candidate Nilesh Kumbhani's nomination was rejected by the Returning Officer the day before due to discrepancies in the proposer's signatures. With Congress's candidate out, the remaining eight also withdrew their candidacy, resulting in Mukesh Dalal of the BJP being elected uncontested. The Election Commission issued his winning certificate accordingly.
