Punjab: AAP wins Jalandhar bypolls, breaks 24-year-old jinx

On Saturday, the Aam Aadmi Party candidate won the bypoll from the Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency, which had been considered a Congress stronghold for the previous 24 years.

According to the Election Commission of India, AAP candidate Sushil Kumar Rinku, a former Congress MLA, defeated Congress candidate Karamjit Kaur by a margin of over 58,000 votes. Rinku received 3,02,279 votes, while Chaudhary received 2,43,588 votes.

The third place went to BJP nominee Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal, while the fourth place went to Shiromani Akali Dal candidate Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi, who is also supported by Mayawati’s BSP.

So far, Atwal has received 1,34,800 votes, while Sukhi has received 1,58,445 votes.
The bypoll, which was held on May 10, was called after Karamjit Kaur’s husband, Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary, died on January 14 of this year after suffering a cardiac arrest while participating in the party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra.

The byelection featured nineteen candidates and a voter turnout of 54.70 percent. The turnout was significantly lower than the 63.04 percent recorded in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, the chief of the Punjab Congress, conceded defeat and congratulated the Aam Aadmi Party and its candidate Sushil Rinku.

“We humbly accept people’s mandate! I thank party workers, volunteers, supporters and the entire @INCPunjab leadership, for the hard work & efforts put in by them for the #JalandharByElection. I congratulate Sushil Rinku & AAP party for the victory,” Warring tweeted.