Turning it into a battle for prestige, the Congress search for candidate for the Vijaypur by-election is fast zeroing in on Mukesh Malhotra to regain the seat, the party lost to defection.

The party is said to be making all-out efforts to settle scores with both arch-rivals Bharatiya Janata Party and incumbent state forest minister Ramnivas Rawat in the yet-to-be-announced by-election.

Rawat contested the seat on a Congress ticket in 2023 and switched sides to join the BJP months later. The by-election is mandated by the resignation of Rawat, who has since been elevated to the state cabinet.

Not surprisingly, the Congress views the upcoming bypoll as an opportunity to avenge the ignominy it suffered at the hands of the ruling BJP due to Rawat's defection.

Amid hectic maneuvering ahead of the bypoll, State Congress unit chief Jitu Patwari has already undertaken three tours of the constituency since it fell vacant.

Former state minister and Congress party in-charge for the area Jaivardhan Singh has also visited the area as many times.

Sources in the Congress identify Malhotra as the frontrunner among those lobbying for a party nomination to contest from the area and add that the local party leader lost the race for the party ticket to Rawat in 2023.

Malhotra's nomination is further cemented by his acceptance among voters in the constituency, as he polled 44,000 votes as an independent after being denied the party ticket in the last elections.

While talking to The Pioneer, Malhotra said that only the party leadership would decide the nomination. "I am doing party work and have not demanded a ticket. The party is engaged in conducting surveys and seeking feedback from the public," he added in an ostensible effort to shun the limelight at this juncture.

He underlined that the party ticket would only go to a leader with wide appeal among voters.

Congress sources say that Malhotra's ticket claims may find credence with party leaders as the Congress will, in all likelihood, contest a tribal leader from the constituency which has over 60,000 Sahariya tribal votes.BJP hopeful Rawat represents the OBC demographic and has represented the people of Vijaypur six times so far.

Since Mukesh Malhotra is tribal, there are strong chances that Congress will field him from there.

Congress media in-charge Mukesh Nayak informed that Patwari is visiting the election-bound area on Friday. He said the Congress was optimistic about its chances in the by-election, as voters are miffed with Rawat due to his decision to switch sides.

The Congress has a long tradition of refusing nominations to frontrunners at the last moment; it remains to be seen if Malhotra will manage to break this unwritten party code and contest Rawat in what promises to be an absolute thriller.