Congress has somehow managed to keep its feet intact against the Bharatiya Janata Party in the ongoing Lok Sabha 2024 polls, but has received another major blow on Monday after its candidate from Madhya Pradesh’s Indore, Akshay Kanti Bam, ditched the grand old party to join the BJP.
Interestingly the turn of events has taken place merely a fortnight ahead of the election on the Indore Lok Sabha seat which is scheduled for May 13.
Bam was fielded by Congress to fight against incumbent BJP MP of Indore Shankar Lalwani.
As per reports, Bam has now withdrawn his nomination
Hush-hush to public
The information on Bam joining BJP came to the fore after senior BJP leader and MLA from Indore, Kailash Vijayvargiya, posted a photo on X, welcoming him.
“We welcome Shri Akshay Kanti Bam ji, Congress Lok Sabha candidate from Indore in BJP, under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, National President JP Nadda and Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and State President VD Sharma,” Vijayvargiya posted in Hindi.
In the picture shared by the BJP Indore MLA, Bam was seen sitting in a car with Vijayvargiya.
But why Akshay Kanti Bam left Cong to join BJP?
A report by The Indian Express quoted BJP spokesperson Hitesh Bajpai claiming that Akshay Kanti Bam “was disgruntled by the loot, exploitation and non-cooperation of senior Congress leaders”.
“The demand for lakhs of rupees (for tickets) and not allowing national Congress leaders to come to Indore became the reason for his resentment. Akshay Bam was also upset about the practice of selling tickets in exchange for money…,” Bajpai claimed.
Former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh and BJP candidate from Vidisha, Shivraj Singh Chouhan said: “All leaders and workers have faith in BJP… All the Congress candidates are leaving the party and joining BJP because they don’t have faith in their party as Congress is leading the country towards destruction…”
Two phases, two setbacks
Bam exiting Congress is the second setback for the party in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.
On April 21, Congress Surat candidate Nilesh Kumbhani dropped out of the Lok Sabha polls 2024 race as his nomination form was rejected after the district returning officer prima facie found discrepancies in the signature of the proposers.
Congress’ substitute candidate for the seat, Suresh Padsala, also had his nomination form rejected.
Akshay Kanti Bam removes Congress from X bio
In his bio on X, Bam removed mention of Congress and added BJP.
With inputs from agencies
Link to article –
Another blow for Congress as Indore candidate Akshay Kanti Bam jumps ship, joins BJP ahead of voting
