New Delhi: The counting of votes is underway for the Ludhiana West assembly bypoll in Punjab. The by-elections were held on June 19 for Punjab’s Ludhiana West seat along with two Assembly constituencies of Gujarat – Kadi and Visavadar and one each of Kerala (Nilambur) and West Bengal (Kaliganj).
The bypolls were necessitated in Ludhiana West seat following the death of AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi in January. A voter turnout of 51.33 per cent was recorded, a sharp drop from the 64 per cent voting registered in the last Assembly polls in 2022.
The main political parties that were in the fray in the bypoll included the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Congress, the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal. The bypoll results will decided the fate of as many as 14 candidates. While the AAP has placed its bet on Sanjeev Arora (61), a Rajya Sabha member and a Ludhiana-based industrialist, who is also known for his social welfare work, for the bypoll, the opposition Congress named former minister and Punjab Congress working president Bharat Bhushan Ashu (51) as its candidate.
Jiwan Gupta, a member of the core committee of the party’s Punjab unit, was fielded as BJP candidate, while the SAD nominated Parupkar Singh Ghuman, a lawyer and the former president of Ludhiana Bar Association, as its candidate.
Early trend shows AAP leading
As per early trends, AAP candidate Sanjeev Arora is leading by over 1,000 votes. Congress’ Bharat Bhushan is trailing. Winning the bypoll is crucial for the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP, which faced defeat in the the Delhi Assembly elections earlier this year. The party also faced a drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls as it won only three of 13 parliamentary constituencies.
While the bypoll was seen as a direct fight between the ruling AAP and Congress, the BJP and SAD were also among the key players. The outcome is being regarded as a litmus test for the ruling AAP as it hopes to retain its hold over Punjab, while the Congress seeks to regain its foothold over the urban constituency which it held six times in the past. The outcome will also shed light on how the BJP performs among urban voters in Punjab and is also going to be a test of SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal’s leadership as his party looks to resurrect itself after a series of electoral debacles.
