Betrayed By Indore Pick, Congress Bats For NOTA To "Teach BJP A Lesson"

A former BJP MP from the constituency, Sumitra Mahajan, has also said that some people called her up and told her they would choose the 'none of the above' option because "they did not like what the BJP did".

Jolted by its Indore Lok Sabha candidate withdrawing its nomination and then rubbing salt in its wounds by joining the BJP, the Congress is now banking on the NOTA - none of the above - option to "teach a lesson" to the ruling party. 

The Congress has not won the Indore constituency, Madhya Pradesh's biggest in terms of voters, in 35 years (since 1989), but this will be the first time it has not even been able to field a candidate. The BJP's nominee is sitting MP Shankar Lalwani and the Congress had given a ticket to Akshay Kanti Bam, who quit the race on the last day of withdrawing nominations and then proceeded to quit the party as well, switching over to its rival. 

After its substitute candidate's petition to contest from the constituency on the party's symbol was denied by the High Court, the Congress has launched a high-octane push for NOTA votes and has also forced a response from the BJP, whose campaign was seen as having slackened since it did not see much competition from the 13 other candidates still in the fray.