Chandigarh | The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday wrested the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat from the Congress in the high-stakes bypoll, ending the grand old party's dominance on the Dalit stronghold since 1999.
AAP candidate Sushil Rinku delivered a big blow to Congress candidate Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary, defeating her with a heavy margin of 58,691 votes.
Rinku, who joined the AAP after quitting the Congress ahead of the bypoll, polled 3,02,279 votes while Chaudhary secured 2,43,588 votes, as per the Election Commission data.
The much-needed victory has come as a short in the arm for the AAP as the bypoll was being seen as a litmus test for the Arvind Kejriwal-led outfit which had faced a drubbing in the Sangrur Lok Sabha bypoll last year, just three months after it stormed to power in the state in March 2022.
The Jalandhar Lok Sabha (reserved) seat had fallen vacant following the death of Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary's husband and Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary in January.
Since 1999, the Congress had never lost the Jalandhar parliamentary seat, considered the party's citadel.
Congress candidate Balbir Singh had won from the seat in 1999, followed by Rana Gurjeet Singh in 2004, Mohinder Singh Kaypee in 2009 and Santokh Chaudhary in 2014 and 2019.
As prestige was at stake for the AAP in the bypoll, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann launched aggressive campaigns and took out roadshows in Jalandhar, asking people to vote for the AAP only for eleven months for development after voting for the Congress for 60 years.
If they (voters) did not like the work of the AAP, then do not vote for it in the 2024 general elections, Kejirwal had said during campaigning.
Mann had listed his government's "achievements", including free electricity, giving jobs, regularising services of contractual employees, action against corruption and opening of mohalla clinics etc, to seek votes.
Kejriwal had even slammed the Congress, saying no big leader including Rahul Gandhi from Delhi bothered to turn up in Jalandhar for campaigning.
After his party's win on Saturday, Kejriwal called it "an unprecedented victory", while CM Mann said the bypoll result is the people's "positive stamp" on the work done by his government in Punjab so far.
Punjab AAP chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang said the stupendous victory in the bypoll reflects "wide acceptance and support" for the politics of health, education and good governance.
"Many congratulations to all selfless volunteers and CM @BhagwantMann Saab, Shri @ArvindKejriwal ji who led a spirited and inspirational campaign to seal this mammoth victory," he tweeted.
The stakes were also high for the Congress in the bypoll as its Punjab leaders -- Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Partap Singh Bajwa, Charanjit Singh Channi and Navjot Singh Sidhu -- had led the campaign in favour of party nominee Chaudhary.
They had targeted the AAP regime over the law and order issue and failure to fulfill its poll promises, including giving Rs 1,000 per month to women.
The BJP also had aggressively campaigned in the bypoll with many of its Union ministers, including Hardeep Singh, Anurag Thakur, Jitendra Singh, Arjun Ram Meghwal, participating in campaigning.
The Shiromani Akali Dal had also fancied its chances with party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal declaring that a victory for party nominee Sukhwinder Sukhi in the bypoll would be a true homage to party patriarch Parkash Singh Badal who died last month.
