The Congress on Monday lost another seat without a vote being cast when its Indore candidate, Akshay Kanti Bam, withdrew his nomination at the eleventh hour and joined the BJP.

This is the second seat in a week that the Congress has lost right at the starting line, the first being Surat on April 22.

Since Bam’s nomination papers were in order, the Congress’s substitute candidate had already withdrawn her nomination. Monday was the last date for nomination withdrawals in Indore, which votes on May 13.

The sole option now before the Congress in Indore — a seat it was never likely to win — is to find and support the candidate best positioned to give the BJP a fight.

A similar situation had arisen elsewhere in Madhya Pradesh — in Khajuraho — after the Samajwadi Party candidate’s nomination paper was rejected.

The Samajwadis and INDIA ally Congress then announced support for the Forward Bloc candidate without much ado.

Madhya Pradesh minister Kailash Vijayvargiya announced Bam’s shift to the BJP in a post on X. The post was accompanied by a photograph of Bam sitting with Vijayvargiya and two others in a car.

The BJP said Bam had left the Congress because he was disillusioned with the party leadership and its policies.

Congress workers in Madhya Pradesh — upset at the virtual walkover Bam has handed the BJP — said they had warned their party leaders about him right at the time of candidate selection.

For several hours after Bam’s departure, the Congress had made no official comment on the development.

The Congress ecosystem claimed Bam had left because an old case against him had been reopened recently.

Local media reported that Bam had recently been booked in a 17-year-old case on the charge of attempt to murder. He and his father have been summoned for a court appearance on May 10.