Madhya Pradesh Lok Sabha Elections 2024: The Congress party is now banking on the 'NOTA' option in the upcoming Lok Sabha election in Madhya Pradesh's Indore after its candidate in the parliamentary constituency withdrew his nomination and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Polling in Indore will take place in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha polls on May 13.
The Congress party fielded Akshay Kanti Bam from the Indore seat but he withdrew his nomination on the last day of the process, throwing the opposition party out of the race and bringing its campaign to stand still in the constituency. The ruling BJP has fielded sitting MP Shankar Lalwani.
Amid a lacklustre campaign, the Congress has been asking voters to press 'NOTA (none of the above) to teach the BJP a lesson and has been organising torch rallies, meetings and also holding discussions with people on social media.
No big ticket BJP rallies in Indore so far
Despite being MP's biggest Lok Sabha constituency with 25.13 lakh voters, the BJP has not organised meetings of any of the top party stalwarts, though state party spokesperson Alok Dubey said its current strategy was enough to garner a "victory with an overwhelming majority".
Ruing the turn of events that has made Indore Lok Sabha poll a one-horse race, Girdharilal Joshi, who has been selling flags and banners in the Rajwada area of the city for years, said, "I have never seen such a dull Lok Sabha election campaign before. There is no enthusiasm among the local people about the polls."
"Candidates and supporters are not buying flags and banners. Moreover, business is also hit as most of the campaigns are being carried out on social media," Joshi told.
Another flag and banner vendor Prakash Vishwakarma said his stock of Rs 10 lakh was lying unsold, since no one was keen to spend on publicity materials when the result is a foregone conclusion.
Congress failed to win Indore for 35 years
Indore has been with the BJP since 1989 and with just 14 candidates in the fray, nine of whom are independents, the ruling party is claiming its victory margin will be more than eight lakh votes.
Indore Press Club President Arvind Tiwari said, "The current election atmosphere and especially the reactions of senior citizens and intellectuals suggest NOTA can create a new record here this time."
How Indore voted in 2019
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Indore had recorded a voter turnout of 69 per cent, with the NOTA figure being 5,045.
The BJP has been attacking the Congress' support for NOTA with several leaders calling it part of the opposition party's "negative politics" and an "attack on democracy".
Lalwani, meanwhile, is active on social media and is taking part in campaign events across the constituency with an eye on the victory margin.
Asked why the BJP has not organised meetings of top leaders of the party, MP BJP spokesperson Alok Dubey said, "We have programmes of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and state unit chief Vishnu Dutt Sharma here as part of our strategy. These are enough to ensure poll victory with an overwhelming majority."
Campaigning in Indore ahead of voting on May 13, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said, "The way people of Indore shown excitement and enthusiasm, the whole Indore and Malwa have become 'Modimay'. Indore has decided to break all its records this time...we will win all 29 seats in Madhya Pradesh..."
Madhya Pradesh has a total of 29 Lok Sabha seats.
With inputs from PTI
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