Who is Akshay Kanti Bam, Congress candidate who joined BJP in Indore?

In a major setback to the Congress in Madhya Pradesh, its Indore Lok Sabha candidate Akshay Kanti Bam withdrew his nomination and joined the rival BJP on Monday (April 29), with only a fortnight to go before the constituency votes on May 13.

While Indore Collector Ashish Singh confirmed that Bam has withdrawn his nomination, senior BJP leader and state Cabinet minister Kailash Vijayvargiya posted a picture on his X account in which Bam was seen sitting in a car with him. Local BJP MLA Ramesh Mendola, a trusted associate of Vijayvargiya, was also seen accompanying them in the car. 

As furious local Congress leaders started gathering outside Bam’s house, police were deployed outside the building in Patrakar Colony.

So, who is Akshay Kanti Bam? Here is more about this young politician.

Who is Akshay Kanti Bam?

Bam (45) is a newbie in the poll arena and he was pitted against sitting BJP MP Shankar Lalwani (62) from the Indore Lok Sabha seat. Indore, a stronghold of the saffron party, is also the largest constituency in the state in terms of the number of voters (25.13 lakh).

Bam has not contested any election in his political career so far. However, he is a well-known entrepreneur in Indore, born in an old family in the city with interests in business, education and real estate.

Born to Kantilal Bam, he completed his primary education in Daly College Indore and went on to earn his BCom (Hons) degree from Sydenham Institute of Management Studies, Research and Entrepreneurship Education (SIMSREE), Mumbai. He completed his LLB (Hons) from PMB Gujarati Commerce College, Indore, and MBA from Shri Vaishnav Vidyapeeth Vishwavidyalaya, Indore. Bam also has a PhD in Business Administration and Management from Devi Ahilya University, Indore.

Man of many parts

Bam has a significant footprint in the education industry. Merely at the age of 23, he established the Indore Institute of Law, in 2003, and he currently serves as its chairman. In 2006, he established the Indore Nursing College, and in 2010, the Idyllic Institute of Management. He is currently the chairman of both.

He is also the founder and CEO of Ledx Legal Learning Edutec Pvt Ltd, an online innovative legal learning platform based in Indore, founded in 2021.

Bam joined Madhya Pradesh Congress with the blessings of Digvijaya Singh, a fellow Daly College alumnus. Later, Akshay moved closer to former PCC chief Kamal Nath. Like Nath, Akshay also wears his Hinduism on his sleeve, often organising religious events in Indore.

During the 2023 Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, too, Bam had eyed a party ticket. He did not get it, but he was assured of a Lok Sabha poll ticket, first by Nath, and later, his successor Jitu Patwari.

The question marks in Congress

The Congress offered Bam the opportunity to contest the Indore Lok Sabha seat at a time when several party workers, including three former MLAs of the party, switched sides and joined the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Now Bam’s withdrawal casts a long shadow on the Congress’selection management in Madhya Pradesh. Bam had been promoted within the party by Nath despite local Congress leaders repeatedly red-flagging his proximity to BJP leaders like Vijayvargiya and mentioning his communal mindset in private.

That state Congress chief Jitu Patwari, who also hails from Indore, did not keep the party’s central leadership informed about Bam’s background during the party’s scrutiny of candidates has been a matter of disaffection in the state Congress and is likely to increase further now.

State Congress spokesperson Ameen ul Khan Suri from Indore told the media, “The state party president should be made accountable for this. Bam didn’t have any political outreach in Indore. Why did the Congress choose him as the candidate for the all-important Indore seat? It should not be taken lightly because it is a matter of a shame for the Congress in Madhya Pradesh.”

(With agency inputs)