In ‘no-contest’ Indore, as Congress props up NOTA, 13 others carry on

THE CONGRESS may be out of the ballot paper in Indore, but it’s very much in the contest. Left without a candidate after Akshay Kanti Bam withdrew at the last minute, with the court applications of its substitute nominee also falling through, the Congress is now aggressively pushing for NOTA.

The party is on the offensive, with its workers pasting walls and auto-rickshaws with posters, organising torch rallies and meetings, and hosting social media chats, telling voters to choose NOTA come May 13 and teach the BJP “a lesson”.

The fact that Indore has been reduced to a “no-contest” may strike a chord given that it is Madhya Pradesh’s biggest Lok Sabha constituency, with 25.13 lakh voters.

Plus, it has always been an easy seat for the BJP, with the party having won it since 1989, and in 2019 by 65.59% votes. The BJP has re-fielded its sitting MP Shankar Lalwani. The Congress got 31% of the votes in 2019, and NOTA 0.31%.

But, as long as there are still candidates in the race – and there are 13 as of now – meaning Indore won’t be another Surat (which the BJP won uncontested), the Congress is going with NOTA as its best bet.

The BJP, incidentally, has not scheduled meetings of any of its stalwarts in the seat. Party spokesperson Alok Dubey said that, nevertheless, they are looking at “victory with an overwhelming
majority”.

The BJP has also attacked the Congress’s support for NOTA as “negative politics” and “an attack on democracy”.

Apart from Lalwani, and now NOTA, the 13 in the contest include a former RSS worker whose agenda is “to reform politics”, a young socialist leader, businessmen, property dealers, and employees of
private firms. Nine of them are contesting as Independents.

Several claim to have been approached by the BJP