Bhopal, Nov 3 (IANS) Samajwadi Party (SP) in Madhya Pradesh received a jolt after its candidate from the Bijawar Assembly seat, Rekha Yadav withdrew her nomination from the fray.

Bijawar was one of the two seats the SP had won in the 2018 Assembly elections. 

Yadab withdrew from the poll race on Thursday.

The Akhilesh Yadav-led SP had earlier fielded Manoj Yadav from the seat, but later had replaced him with former BJP MLA Renu Yadav.

With Yadav taking back her nomination at the last minute, she has given an edge to the Congress candidate. 

SP's Rajesh Shukla had won Bijawar seat in 2018 by a margin of 36,474 votes. Shukla was among those who had supported the Kamal Nath-led Congress government, which however, toppled in March 2020.

During the presidential election, Shukla joined the saffron party and this time he is contesting the Assembly election on a BJP ticket. 

The Congress has fielded Charan Singh Yadav from Bijawar, which is considered a Yadav dominated seat in Chhatarpur district.