Punjab bypoll: AAP wins in three Congress strongholds, loses Barnala
The Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday won three of the four bypoll assembly seats, including Gidderbaha, Chabbewal and Dera Baba Nanak.
The Congress won Barnala seat, which was the stronghold of the AAP in Punjab.
Bypolls to Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal (SC) and Barnala took place on November 20. The bypolls were necessitated after the incumbent legislators were elected to the Lok Sabha earlier this year.
AAP's Gurdeep Singh Randhawa wins Dera Baba Nanak seat
AAP candidate Gurdeep Singh Randhawa won the Dera Baba Nanak assembly seat, defeating Congress nominee Jatinder Kaur by a margin of 5,699 votes.
In the fierce contest between the Congress and the AAP, Randhawa secured 59,104 votes, while Kaur polled 53,405 votes. BJP candidate Ravi Karan Singh Kahlon trailed in the third spot, managing just 6,505 votes.
Kaur was leading from the third to the eighth round of counting. But later, Randhawa maintained the lead in the following rounds. There were a total of 18 rounds of counting.
Kaur is the wife of Congress MP from Gurdaspur Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, who represented this seat in 2002, 2012, 2017 and 2022.
Cong candidate Kuldeep Singh Dhillon wins Barnala
Congress candidate Kuldeep Singh Dhillon won the Barnala assembly segment, defeating AAP's Harinder Singh Dhaliwal by a margin of 2,157 votes.
In the multi-cornered contest, Dhillon secured 28,254 votes, while Dhaliwal got 26,097 votes.
BJP candidate Kewal Singh Dhillon secured 17,958 votes, while AAP rebel and Independent candidate Gurdeep Singh Batth secured 16,899 votes. Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) candidate Govind Singh Sandhu got 7,900 votes.
AAP's Ishank Kumar wins Chabbewal seat
AAP candidate Ishank Kumar Chabbewal won the Chabbewal assembly seat, defeating his nearest rival and Congress nominee Ranjit Kumar by a margin of 28,690 votes
Ishank Kumar, a doctor, polled 51,904 votes and Ranjit Kumar secured 23,214 votes. The BJP's Sohan Singh Thandal was a distant third with 8,692 votes.
The Chabbewal bypoll was necessitated after Ishank Kumar's father Raj Kumar Chabbewal, who was a Congress MLA but later joined the AAP, was elected to the Lok Sabha from Hoshiarpur.
Raj Kumar was elected to the Punjab Assembly from Chabbewal in 2017 and 2022 on Congress tickets.
AAP's Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon wins Gidderbaha
Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon defeated his nearest rival and Congress nominee Amrita Warring, the wife of Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, by 21,969 votes. BJP candidate and former Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal was in the third spot.
Dhillon polled 71644 and Amrita Warring 49,675, while security deposit of Manpreet Badal was forfeited as he failed to get 1/6 of total valid votes polled. Badal got 12,227 votes.
