• Source:JND
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In Rajasthan's tribal-majority Banswara-Dungarpur Lok Sabha constituency, an odd election contest is expected as the Congress is pleading with voters not vote for its candidate. The reason being despite fielding its candidate, Arvind Damor, the Congress ultimately chose to support Rajkumar Roat of the Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP)- a day before the deadline for nomination withdrawals.

Damor was supposed to withdraw his nomination papers in accordance with the party's announcement that it would support the BAP, but he did not show up until the deadline for nomination withdrawals had passed.

Later, when Damor appeared before the press, he claimed not to be aware of the events and announced that he would contest the election.

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The election between the BJP and the Congress-BAP alliance, which was predicted to be a bipolar contest, has instead become a three-way race. Damor is expected to split the Congress votes, which will benefit Mahendrajit Singh Malviya, the candidate of the saffron party.

Although the Congress leadership in the area has urged voters to support Roat over their own candidate, Damor has asserted that he has the backing of some party leaders who are opposed to the alliance with the BAP. The party is backing Roat, according to district-level leader Vikas Bamnia, who is the son of Congress MLA Arjun Bamnia.

"Our stand is clear, we are supporting the BAP candidate. We are working keeping in mind the sentiments of the people and the directions received from the party," Mr Bamnia said.

Another local Congress leader said, "We are asking people clearly to not vote for the Congress candidate (Damor)."

Some locals felt that Damor's unwillingness to follow the party line was embarrassing for the Congress, even though several told Press Trust of India that Malviya and Roat were the main contenders.

Roat is one of the three MLAs for the BAP, which was founded in southern Rajasthan prior to the 2023 assembly elections.