In what could be termed as a sigh of relief to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its official candidate and Minister Mahesh Gagda, rebel candidate Rajaram Todem withdrew his nomination papers from Bijapur assembly constituency on last day of withdrawal of nomination papers on Friday.
Former MLA and tribal leader Rajaram Todem had filed the nomination papers by revolting against the Bijapur sitting MLA and Forest Minister Mahesh Gagda.
Todem is an influential leader of Bijapur region and could have hampered the interest of BJP by bifurcating its traditional votes.
On Thursday, Todem was reinstated in BJP after his expulsion which was ended by the State BJP President Dharamlal Kaushik.
The disgruntled leader was pacified by the senior BJP leaders not to fight the elections as an Independent candidate and after which he withdrew his nomination papers.