The Congress suffered a huge setback in Chhattisgarh on Friday when its candidate for the Antagad assembly by-election, Manturam Pawar, withdrew his nomination and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The by-election on September 13 was necessitated after former MLA Vikarm Usendi won the Kanker Lok Sabha seat.
Calling it a “black day” for the Congress, party MLA Amit Jogi said: “Mr. Manturam Pawar had publicly said that neither he nor anyone from his family wants to contest the by-electionClearly, he was a weak and unwilling candidate.”
