Congress leader Akshay Kanti Bam withdrew his nomination from the Indore Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh on Monday, April 29, only to be “welcomed” into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by Madhya Pradesh Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya soon after. The minister shared a photo of himself seated in a car with Akshay, stating that the party welcomes him on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president JP Nadda. The elections in Indore would be held on May 13, and the last day to submit nominations was on April 29. The Congress had fielded Akshay against sitting BJP MP Shankar Lalwani.

The incident comes close on the heels of another major setback for the Congress in Surat, where the nomination form of Congress candidate Nilesh Kumbhani was rejected over discrepancies regarding signatures of the proposers, leading to BJP’s Mukesh Dalal getting elected unopposed. There have since been speculations that the Congress candidate colluded with the BJP, and Kumbhani was suspended from the party for six years on April 26.

The nomination of Congress’ ‘dummy’ candidate in Surat, Suresh Padsala, was also rejected after the proposers claimed their signatures on the nomination papers were forged. Like in Indore, the proposers of the Congress candidates in Surat had waited until the last day of filing nominations to back out. Eight other candidates, including Pyarelal Bharti of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), subsequently withdrew their nominations.

BJP Gujarat president CR Paatil had congratulated Mukesh Dal, saying, “Surat offered first lotus to Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendrabhai Modi. Congratulations and best wishes to Mr. Mukeshbhai Dalal, candidate for Surat Lok Sabha seat, for being elected unopposed.”