Bypolls results: AAP wins Jalandhar parliamentary seat with huge margin
What's the story
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)'s Sushil Kumar Rinku won Punjab's Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat with a huge margin on Saturday. In a four-cornered race, the AAP maintained the lead from the beginning. The Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) were also in the race. The AAP was reportedly certain to win and began the celebrations soon after early trends emerged.
Context
Why does this story matter?
On Wednesday, voter turnout for the Jalandhar parliamentary bypoll was over 54%. The seat became vacant after Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary died of a heart attack during his party's Bharat Jodo Yatra in January. The AAP, the state's ruling party, the Congress, the BJP, and the SAD were competing for votes in the Dalit stronghold.
Twitter Post
AAP MP Raghav Chadha congratulates Rinku
AAP is back in the Lok Sabha!
— Raghav Chadha (@raghav_chadha) May 13, 2023
Congratulations to @AamAadmiParty’s Sushil Kumar Rinku on winning the Jalandhar by-poll.
Thank you, Jalandhar!
Today’s win reflects the strengthening of people’s faith in @ArvindKejriwal’s leadership and @BhagwantMann’s pro-people governance.
Details
Congress's Karamjeet Kaur in 2nd place
Rinku received 3,02,279 votes, a huge lead of nearly 60,000 votes, in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat bypoll after the last round of counting concluded. The Congress's Karmjeet Kaur Chaudhary came second with 2,43,558 votes. On the other hand, Dr. Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi of the SAD and Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal of the BJP are way behind in the third and fourth positions, respectively.
Other states
BJD, Apna Dal (S) win assembly seat bypolls
Counting was also held for bypolls of the assembly constituencies of Chhanbey and Suar in Uttar Pradesh, Jharsuguda in Odisha, and Sohiong in Meghalaya. Reportedly, Apna Dal (Sonelal) candidate Shafeek Ahmed Ansari has won the Suar seat, while the party—a BJP ally—also emerged victorious in Chhanbey. The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) won in Jharshuguda, while the United Democratic Party reportedly clinched the Sohiong seat.