New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Sushil Rinku on Saturday won the Jalandhar (Punjab) Lok Sabha bypoll with a margin of more than 58,000 votes over his nearest rival and Congress nominee Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary. Out of 8.87 lakh votes polled, Rinku got over 3.02 lakh votes, while Chaudhary received 2.43 lakh votes. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi, who was also backed by the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), was at the third spot with 1.58 lakh votes and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominee Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal was at the fourth spot with 1.34 lakh votes.


COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

The Jalandhar bypoll, voting for which was held on May 10, was necessitated following the death of Karamjit Kaur's husband and Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary in January. 


The byelection was a litmus test for the 13-month-old AAP government in Punjab, where its victory has now stamped its administrative and leadership acumen, and has marked its presence in the Lok Sabha. 


In June 2022, the Aam Aadmi Party witnessed a major setback when SAD (Amritsar) candidate Simranjit Singh Mann won the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat after defeating AAP's Gurmail Singh. Bhagwant Mann had represented this seat twice -- 2014 and 2019 -- and vacated the seat after becoming the Chief Minister.


For the Jalandhar bypoll, the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP fielded Sushil Rinku, who joined the party after quitting the Congress. He helped the AAP get more votes as he belongs to the Ravidassia sect and the Jalandhar seat has 38 per cent Dalit population, comprising 21 per cent Ravidasias and the remaining Valmiki or Mazhbi Sikhs.


The win for the party is also seen as the result of its moves to provide free electricity, jobs to the youths, regularising services of contractual employees and opening various mohalla clinics. The AAP's victory also came amid the Mann-led government taking action against corruption.


Arvind Kejriwal Bhagwant Mann's Punjab govt after Jalandhar bypoll win


With the AAP candidate in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll winning by a big margin, party national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said the 'unprecedented victory' is because of the Bhagwant Mann government's good work in Punjab.


Talking to reporters at the AAP headquarters in the national capital, alongside Bhagwant Mann, Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal said, "It's an unprecedented victory because of the Mann government's good work. Our party candidate is winning from the seat which was a Congress stronghold for the last 50 years."


He added that 'we do of politics of work and seek votes from people for our work'. 


"People have put a stamp on Bhagwant Mann government's work saying 'we are with you'... This is a big message," he added.


Mann said the trend of the bypoll result is the people's 'positive stamp' on the work done by his government in Punjab so far.


"The election result has increased our responsibility and my confidence. We will work much harder for the development of Punjab," he said.