The Congress party today lost its second Lok Sabha candidate within days, just before voting in the seat. Akshay Bam, the Congress candidate in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore, dropped out of the race and joined the BJP today. The shocker emerged in a post by senior Madhya Pradesh BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya, who flaunted the candidate in a photo taken in a car.

“Congress Lok Sabha candidate from Indore Akshay Kanti Bam is welcome in the BJP under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party national president JP Nadda, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and state president VD Sharma,” Mr Vijayvargiya said in the post.

इंदौर से कांग्रेस के लोकसभा प्रत्याशी श्री अक्षय कांति बम जी का माननीय प्रधानमंत्री श्री @narendramodi जी, राष्ट्रीय अध्यक्ष श्री @JPNadda जी, मुख्यमंत्री @DrMohanYadav51 जी व प्रदेश अध्यक्ष श्री @vdsharmabjp जी के नेतृत्व में भाजपा में स्वागत है। pic.twitter.com/1isbdLXphb

— Kailash Vijayvargiya (Modi Ka Parivar) (@KailashOnline) April 29, 2024

Today was the last day of nominations for Indore, which votes in the fourth phase of elections on May 13.

“Three candidates, including Congress’ Bam, withdrew their nominations today as per the due procedure. The process has also been videographed,” District Collector Ashish Singh told reporters.

Akshay Bam visited the district collector’s office to retract his candidacy, with BJP MLA Ramesh Mendola by his side.

Congress had pitted poll debutant Mr Bam, 45, against the incumbent BJP MP Shankar Lalwani in Indore, which has the largest electorate in Madhya Pradesh. The Congress chose him at a time a string of party workers, including three former MLAs, have switched to the BJP in Madhya Pradesh.

The opposition party lost a candidate in Gujarat’s Surat last week following a series of dramatic events that included the disqualification of the Congress nominee and the withdrawal of eight candidates – including the BSP pick and independents – one after the other. On April 22, the BJP’s Mukesh Dalal was declared unopposed winner for the Surat Lok Sabha constituency.

As the Congress suffered its second setback, the party’s local leaders in Indore expressed their disappointment and questioned the leadership’s decision to choose Mr Bam as candidate.

“I had warned about Akshay Bam to our party leaders. I had warned that he would withdraw his nomination. It pains us that party workers like us have been serving the Congress for years yet the ticket was given to people like him,” said local Congress leader Devendra Singh Yadav to NDTV.

During the scrutiny of nominations, the BJP’s legal cell had raised an objection on Mr Bam’s nomination form for not mentioning the addition of section 307 of IPC or an attempt to murder case in a 17-year-old land dispute. Poll officials had overruled the objection and accepted his nomination as the charge was added on the day he filed the nomination.

A case has been filed against Karnataka MP Prajwal Revanna amid a row over explicit videos – allegedly showing the him sexually assaulting multiple women.

The video clips, allegedly involving Prajwal Revanna, surfaced on social media a day after he voted on April 26 in Phase 2 of the elections.

Prajwal Revanna – grandson of JDS chief and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda – has, however, denied the allegations and filed a complaint claiming that the videos being circulated are doctored.

The Karnataka government has formed a special investigation team (SIT) to look into the obscene videos case.

The decision to set up the SIT came after the state women’s commission recommended the Siddaramaiah government to take action.

What Is Prajwal Revanna Accused Of?

The scandal involves explicit videos that were allegedly shot by the MP and were circulated widely in the Hassan constituency.

This was followed up by a woman filing a police case against Prajwal Revanna, accusing him of sexual assault. She alleged she had been sexually abused multiple times between 2019 and 2022.

The complainant also claimed that Prajwal Revanna misbehaved with her daughter over a video call and had “vulgar conversations” with her. 

The woman alleged that Prajwal’s father HD Revanna also sexually assaulted her when his wife was not at home. She also said that there is a threat to her life as well as other members of her family.

BJP Leader Devaraje Gowda, who was the party’s Holenarsipura candidate during the 2023 Assembly elections, has now claimed that had written to then state president BY Vijayendra in December last year, flagging “grave allegations” against the HD Deve Gowda family, including Prajwal Revanna.

He claimed that he had received a pen drive containing 2,976 explicit videos of women – which were then being used to blackmail them into continuing to engage in sexual activities. “If we align with the JD(S) and if we nominate a JD(S) candidate in Hassan for the Lok Sabha elections, these videos can be used as a brahmastra and we will be tainted as a party that aligned with the family of a rapist. This will be a big blow to the image of our party nationally,” Devaraje Gowdahad written in the letter.

Who Is Prajwal Revanna And What He Says

Prajwal Revanna is the grandson of former prime minister H D Devegowda.

Prajwal Revanna is the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate in the Hassan Lok Sabha constituency, where voting was held in the second phase on April 26. Janata Dal (Secular), or JD(S), joined the NDA in September last year.

The 33-year-old left for Germany Saturday morning, shortly after the videos emerged online.

He has filed a police complaint claiming the videos were doctored and they were being circulated to “tarnish his image and poison voters’ minds”.

Prajwal’s father HD Revanna, who is also an accused in the case filed by their former house help, is MLA from Holenarasipur constituency.

Sex Scandal Sparks Political Slugfest

The row has also snowballed into a political squabble between the JDS and the BJP.

The BJP has distanced itself from Prajwal Revanna amid the controversy around his purported sex tapes. “We, as a party, have nothing to do with the videos and neither do we have any comments to make on the SIT probe announced by the state government into the alleged sex scandal involving Prajwal Revanna,” BJP state spokesperson S Prakash said.

Prajwal Revanna ‘s uncle and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy said he would like to wait for the facts to come out of the investigation into the alleged scandal involving his nephew, but asserted that there is no question of forgiving anyone who has committed a crime

Another JD(S) leader, Sharangouda Kandkur has demanded the suspension of Prajwal Revanna. In a two-page letter made public Monday morning, Mr Kandkur told HD Deve Gowda the JDS had been left “embarrassed by the circulating videos, and it damages the reputation of both you and your party,” he said.

The Congress has hit out at the BJP, alleging that the party helped Prajwal Revanna flee the country amid row over alleged sex clips involving him. Congress leaders and workers also staged a protest in Bengaluru demanding his immediate arrest.

Telangana INC’s state president, Revanth Reddy, summoned by Delhi Police over the circulated edited video of Amit Shah. He is required to submit his electronic devices for further investigation.