MP polls: Premchand Guddu quits Congress for second time, does not withdraw nomination from Alot seat

Former MP and MLA Premchand Guddu who has filed a nomination from Alot assembly constituency in Madhya Pradesh as an independent resigned from the Congress on Friday. He did not pull out of the contest on Thursday, the last day of withdrawal of nominations. The constituency, located in Ratlam district, is reserved for Scheduled Castes. Guddu's main rivals in the November 17 elections are Congress's Manoj Chawla and the Bharatiya Janata Party's Chintamani Malviya.

"I was forced to resign," he told PTI. State Congress chief Kamal Nath and senior party leader Digvijaya Singh were both focused on promoting their sons and their acolytes, he alleged. Guddu had represented Alot in the assembly and also the Lok Sabha constituency of Ujjain-Alot earlier.

Ahead of the 2018 assembly polls, he and his son Ajit Bourasi parted ways with the Congress and joined the BJP. After the Congress government led by Kamal Nath collapsed in March 2020, he returned to the Grand Old Party. In November 2020, he unsuccessfully contested a by-election from Sanwer in Indore district on a Congress ticket.