Puri latest to make waves after Congress's woes in Surat and Indore

“Surat and Indore have marked the beginning of BJP’s vijay ka shri ganesh (victory)… I can confidently say that we are on course for achieving the target of 400-plus (400 paar) that we had set for ourselves,” Defence Minister Rajnath Singh recently said in Bihar’s Saran.

Rajnath Singh’s remarks were in reference to the BJP winning unopposed in Surat after the Congress candidate’s nomination was declared invalid. In Indore, the Congress candidate dropped out on the last day of withdrawal of nominations, virtually giving the BJP a walkover.Â

Now, Puri has been added to the list after the Congress’s Sucharita Mohanty opted out of the poll race even though the BJP faces a stiff contest from the BJD in the high-profile seat.

In fact, the trend of Congress candidates backing out of the Lok Sabha poll race after being given tickets started in March when Rohan Gupta withdrew his candidature from Ahmedabad East constituency. Days later, he resigned from the Congress and joined the BJP in April.

Here is a look at what transpired in Puri, Surat and Indore.

PURI CANDIDATE CITES LACK OF FINANCIAL AID FROM PARTY

Smarting from the setbacks in Indore and Surat just a week ago, the Congress received a blow in Odisha after its Puri candidate Sucharita Mohanty declined to contest the elections.

In an email to the Congress leadership, which went viral, Mohanty alleged lack of financial assistance from the party behind her move. She also expressed dissatisfaction with the party’s choice of candidates for the seven Assembly segments that come under the Puri parliamentary seat.

puri congress canidate

“Our campaign in Puri parliamentary constituency has been hit hard because the party has denied me funding. AICC Odisha in-charge Dr Ajoy Kumar asked me to fend for myself. I was a salaried professional journalist who entered electoral politics 10 years ago. I have given all I have into my campaign in Puri,” Mohanty wrote.

The timing of Mohanty’s letter, just two days before the last date for filing nominations, has raised eyebrows. However, Mohanty, daughter of freedom fighter and former Congress MP Brajmohan Mohanty, scotched speculation of her joining the BJP.

“I am a loyal soldier of the party… My parents worked for the people of Puri and Odisha. Congress is in my DNA and my neta is Rahul Gandhi. I want him to be the Prime Minister of India,” Mohanty told India Today TV.

Mohanty’s withdrawal makes the Puri battle a virtual two-way contest between BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra and former Mumbai Police Commissioner and BJD candidate Arup Patnaik.

The Puri Lok Sabha seat has been a BJD stronghold since 1998. Its sitting MP, Pinaki Misra, has won the seat thrice consecutively. However, in recent times, the BJP has leapfrogged the Congress as the BJD’s main challenger.Â

In the 2019 polls, the Congress’s vote share was just 3.94% in Puri. However, in the 2014 election, the Congress had secured 18.5% of the votes, finishing second.

SURAT, INDORE CANDIDATES BACK OUT AT LAST MINUTE

The crisis in Puri comes days after the Congress’s Indore candidate Akshay Kanti Bam withdrew his nomination and joined the BJP. Along with Bam, eight other candidates also withdrew their nominations at the last minute on April 29.

The development created an unwanted record for the Congress – it is the first time in Indore’s electoral history that the party does not have a candidate.

Madhya Pradesh minister Kailash Vijayvargiya with former Congress leader Akshay Kanti Bam

The fast-paced sequence of events on April 29 left the Congress with no option. Within a matter of hours, Bam withdrew his nomination and joined the BJP. The ongoings came to light only when veteran BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya posted an image of him with Bam in a car.

While Bam has not revealed the reason behind his sudden switch, speculation has been rife that he took the decision after being booked for attempt to murder in a land matter from 17 years ago.

Days ago, the nomination of the Samajwadi Party’s candidate in Madhya Pradesh’s Khajuraho was rejected by the returning officer. The SP was contesting the seat as part of the INDIA bloc.

A similar incident played out in Gujarat’s Surat when the nomination of the Congress’s candidate, Nilesh Kumbhani, was rejected.

The development came after the BJP lodged a complaint with the district election officer (DEO) claiming that the signatures of the four proposers for the Congress candidate were forged.

When the four proposers were summoned by the DEO’s office, they failed to show up. The Congress legal team then filed a police complaint, claiming that the proposers were kidnapped.Â

However, later in the day, the proposers appeared before the police in Surat, saying they were not kidnapped and asserted that their signatures were forged.

Since April 21 was the late date for filing nominations, the Congress had no option to field another candidate.

Days later, Congress suspended Kumbhani from the party for six years, alleging that his nomination form was rejected due to gross negligence on his part or “in connivance with the BJP”.

The BJP won the seat uncontested as all other candidates withdrew their nominations.

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