AAP’s calculated gamble paid off

Aparna Banerji

Jalandhar, May 14

On Saturday, AAP leader Sushil Rinku stepped out of his house as a former MLA and walked back in as a Member of Parliament (MP). The political journey of the former councillor has surprised many, thanks to his Lok Sabha bypoll win on Saturday with a huge margin of 58,691 votes.

Months before the byelection, rumours were rife about AAP planning to rope in a number of senior leaders from the Congress, SAD and the BJP. Some who had been waiting on the sidelines for years — stayed back or were held back — choosing loyalty. Of all the party hoppers ahead of the bypoll – Rinku is clearly the luckiest.

Holding Congress meetings days ago, he joined the AAP much to the resentment of his former party’s leaders who said they had nurtured him for years. Rinku has also been called a “traitor”.

However, jumping the ship merely a month before the bypoll on April 6, his abrupt joining has now turned into a calculated gamble which has paid rich dividends both to him and the AAP. Wresting the decades’ long Congress bastion, Rinku now has the honour of being a representative in the Lok Sabha. His win has also ensured AAP’s re-entry into the Lok Sabha.

The Jalandhar bypoll has also proven a face-saver for AAP, which was looking for redemption (and power) after the Sangrur debacle. CM Bhagwant Mann and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, reiterated, “This win will empower us in the state. You have voted Congress for 60 years. Give us 11 months.”

AAP boosts vote share in Jalandhar West

Other than gaining the Lok Sabha seat, the party’s victory has also set some other speculations to rest. The Jalandhar West, which was being deemed one of the trickiest for the party has sprung a lead in 2023 Jalandhar bypoll for the AAP. Jalandhar West is one of the three Jalandhar urban seats which the AAP has been able to save. While it lost Jalandhar North and Jalandhar Central to BJP, in Jalandhar West, AAP gained a considerable lead of 9,467 votes.

In the 2022 assembly elections, AAP’s current Jalandhar West MLA Sheetal Angural had defeated Sushil Rinku (then in Congress) by a margin of 4,253 votes. This bypoll, Rinku has become MP (and now a senior to Angural) with a lead of over 9,000 votes in the same constituency. As the long-time rivals had been feuding for ages, AAP worked overtime to bring an end to the feud between the two. Party state general secretary Harchand Singh Barsat played a major role in brokering a truce, after which the duo made peace and were repeatedly seen together during Rinku’s campaign and upon his victory.

The entry of BJP Jalandhar West stalwart Mahinder Bhagat into AAP days before poll, has also seemed to benefit the AAP. The BJP received 33,486 votes in Jalandhar West in 2022 elections but in this year’s bypoll it received only 21,826 votes.