AAP wrests 3, loses citadel to Cong in Punjab bypoll

The Aam Aadmi Party wrested Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal and Gidderbaha from the Congress, but lost Barnala to the Punjab’s main opposition party in the Assembly byelections, the results for which were declared today.

AAP’s Dera Baba Nanak candidate Gurdeep Singh Randhawa defeated Congress’ Jatinder Kaur Randhawa by 5,699 votes, while Chabbewal nominee Dr Ishank Chabbewal beat Congress’ Ranjit Kumar by record 28,690 votes.

In Gidderbaha, Akali defector and AAP candidate Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon cruised to victory by a margin of 21,969 votes against closest rival Amrita Warring of the Congress. Bharatiya Janata Party’s Manpreet Singh Badal finished a distant third.

AAP candidate Harinder Singh Dhaliwal, however, lost Barnala to Congress’ Kuldeep Singh Kaka Dhillon by 2,157 votes, after the party failed to quell rebellion there.

The party enjoyed a vote share of 46.64 per cent in these bypolls. With this, AAP’s strength in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha has gone up to 94, while that of the Congress has dropped from 18 to 16. While the Shiromani Akali Dal did not contest the elections, its Dera Baba Nanak and Gidderbaha leaders had asked supporters to vote for AAP, hitting Congress candidates Jatinder Kaur and Amrita Warring — wives of party stalwarts Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, respectively — hard. The Congress trailed at the number two position in three constituencies.

The BJP, which contested the elections without any major opposition from the agitating farmers, finished a distant third in all four segments. Its candidates lost security deposits in all three rural constituencies. Barnala was the only exception for the party as Kewal Singh Dhillon got a vote share of 17.95 per cent. The party’s total vote share, however, fell to 10.57 per cent.

Losing Barnala comes as a setback for AAP as the seat is part of the Sangrur parliamentary constituency. Since the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the party has enjoyed lead there, including in the Vidhan Sabha elections of 2017 and 2022.

The seat had fallen vacant after incumbent legislator and then Sports Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer got elected as the Member of Parliament from Sangrur. Hayer secured the Barnala ticket for his friend Harinder Singh Dhaliwal, but rebel leader Gurdeep Singh Batth ended up denting party’s prospects in the bypoll.

Manpreet loses security deposit

Of the 45 contestants, 35 lost security deposits, including 3 from BJP. For the first time, a member of the Badal family — BJP candidate Manpreet Singh Badal — lost his deposit