After Indore candidate joins BJP, Cong appeals for NOTA

Amid the Congress' appeal to voters to opt for NOTA in the Indore Lok Sabha poll, Madhya Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda has said the BJP will encourage the people to come out in large numbers to exercise their franchise.

The BJP held a meeting in Indore late Sunday night where a discussion was held on how to increase the voting percentage in the Indore Lok Sabha seat.

Polling in Indore, where the Congress is out of race after its candidate withdrew his nomination, is scheduled on May 13.

There are a total of 14 candidates in the fray, including BJP's sitting MP Shankar Lalwani. Nine of the candidates are contesting as independents.

The Indore Lok Sabha seat is held by the BJP for last 35 years.

After the meeting on Sunday, Deputy CM Devda, who is the in-charge of BJP's Indore cluster, told reporters, "It was discussed in the meeting that maximum voting should be held in the Indore Lok Sabha constituency."

The BJP will motivate people to come out in large numbers to vote and make the party win the Indore Lok Sabha seat with an overwhelming majority, he said.

Senior BJP leader and former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said, "There was a discussion in the meeting on how to increase the voting percentage in Indore. We want Indore to become the number one Lok Sabha seat in the country in terms of voting."

State cabinet ministers Kailash Vijayvargiya and Tulsiram Silawat and local BJP MLAs attended the meeting held at the local party office.

Congress candidate from Indore, Akshay Kanti Bam, withdrew his nomination on April 29 and joined the BJP.

Following this, the Congress has been appealing to voters to press the NOTA (None of the Above) option on the electronic voting machines "to teach the BJP a lesson".

The BJP has renominated Lalwani from the Indore Lok Sabha seat.

There are 25.13 lakh eligible voters in Indore, which witnessed 69 per cent polling in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Vijayvargiya has said the BJP aims to win the Indore Lok Sabha seat this time by a margin of more than eight lakh votes.