Following the Congress' appeal to electors in Madhya Pradesh's Indore to select the 'None of the Above' option, it has so far got more than 1.7 lakh votes in the Lok Sabha seat, breaking the previous NOTA record of Gopalganj in Bihar.

The opposition Congress has posted flyers accusing Akshay Bam, who switched to BJP after withdrawing from Indore's Lok Sabha candidacy, of being an "absconder" in a 17-year-old attempted murder case. They offer a Rs 5,100 reward for information leading to his arrest.

Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Jitu Patwari made an appeal on Monday to voters in the Indore Lok Sabha constituency, urging them to choose the None of the Above (NOTA) option following the withdrawal of the party's candidate, Akshay Kanti Bam.

The absence of the Congress from the Indore Lok Sabha race has subdued the campaigning atmosphere, raising speculation on the potential impact of 'NOTA' on May 13. With the Congress urging voters to opt for 'NOTA' to signal discontent with the BJP, they have been organising torch rallies, meetings, and leveraging social media for discussions.

Abhay Jain, former RSS 'pracharak', claims BJP leaders asked him to withdraw from Indore Lok Sabha race, a charge dismissed by the party as "fictional." Running independently due to his party's absence of EC recognition, Jain revealed four BJP leaders visited him at his residence on April 27.

The BJP convened a meeting late Sunday night to strategize on boosting voter turnout in the Indore Lok Sabha seat, now uncontested by the Congress following the withdrawal of its candidate.With 14 candidates, including BJP incumbent Shankar Lalwani, and nine independents in contention, the BJP seeks to maintain its hold on the seat, which it has retained for the past 35 years.

Former Congress candidate Akshay Kanti Bam cited party non-cooperation as the reason for his withdrawal from the Indore Lok Sabha race on April 29, marking the end of the party's 35-year-long contest in the constituency, after which he switched sides, joining the BJP.

Madhya Pradesh minister and senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya on Sunday said the Congress' call to voters to select the NOTA option in Indore won't have any impact and the saffron nominee will win the May 13 elections by a margin of over 8 lakh votes.

In a surprising turn of events, Madhya Pradesh's political landscape witnessed a significant shift as Akshya Kanti Bam, the Congress candidate for the Indore parliamentary seat, withdrew his nomination and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).