Stakes high for AAP, Congress in Jalandhar (West) bypoll

Tribune News Service

Rajmeet Singh

Chandigarh, June 30

While winning the Jalandhar (West) Assembly byelection is a matter of prestige for Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the stakes are equally high for the Punjab Congress as both sides see it as the litmus test ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections.

Not just the Jalandhar (West) seat, but the outcome of the upcoming byelections to Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal and Sangrur Assembly segments will be crucial for the political future of various parties in the state.

Will win this seat

We are well-prepared and working tirelessly to secure the win. Our efforts over the past two years have yielded the desired results. Our hard work will be rewarded in Jalandhar (West) too. —Amrinder SIngh Raja Warring, PCC Chief

AAP exposed

Not only Jalandhar (West), the Congress will win all byelections. AAP has been exposed. The results will cause a major shake-up in the government. We have put up a strong candidate on the seat. —Charanjit Channi, Jalandhar MP

CM Mann is confident of the AAP candidate putting up a good show. “I am confident that people will elect the party candidate with a huge victory margin and give a befitting reply to cheaters,” he says.

Riding on the anti-incumbency factor against the AAP government, the senior state Congress leadership is actively working on the campaign to sustain the tempo of the Lok Sabha poll in which the party won seven of the 13 seats. Despite being in power, AAP could win just three seats. The Punjab Congress feels internal strife in AAP will work to its advantage in the byelections.

CLP leader Partap Singh Bajwa says the byelection results will seal the fate of CM Mann. He along with PPCC chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and former CM and Lok Sabha MP Charanjit Channi is camping in Jalandhar to boost the campaign.

Channi exudes confidence that not only Jalandhar (West), the Congress will win all byelections. “AAP has been exposed. The results will cause a major shake-up in the government. We have put up a strong candidate on the seat,” he says.

“We are well-prepared and working tirelessly to secure the win. Our efforts over the past two years have yielded the desired results. Our hard work will be rewarded in Jalandhar (West) too,” asserts Warring.

Sources in the party say following dissent within the party over the dip in vote percentage compared to the 2019 parliamentary elections, the top leadership is working overtime to ensure the state unit works as a team. Defending the performance of the party, Warring has already stated voting percentage should be compared to the 2022 Assembly elections.

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