New Delhi: The counting of votes for the four Punjab Assembly seats that went to polls on 20 November began at 8am on Saturday. As per initial trends from the Election Commission’s website, Congress is leading on two seats, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is ahead on the other two.
The four constituencies — Gidderbaha, Barnala, Chabbewal, and Dera Baba Nanak — witnessed intense and high-energy campaigning. These seats, previously held by three Congress MLAs and one AAP MLA, became vacant after their representatives were elected to the Lok Sabha earlier this year.
Seats where bypolls were held
| Constituency | Winner/Leading | Loser |
| Gidderbaha | AAP | Congress |
| Barnala | Congress | AAP |
| Chabbewal | AAP | Congress |
| Dera Baba Nanak | Congress | AAP |
Punjab’s Chief Electoral Officer, Sibin C., stated that one counting centre has been established in each constituency. These centres are secured by a three-tier system involving Punjab Police and Central Armed Forces personnel.
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Dera Baba Nanak had 11 candidates contesting, with a voter turnout of 64.01%. Chabbewal, a reserved constituency, recorded a 53.43% turnout with six candidates in the fray. Gidderbaha, known for its political significance, saw the highest polling percentage at 81.90%, with 14 candidates. Similarly, Barnala recorded 56.34% voter turnout, also with 14 contestants.
Congress fielded prominent candidates, including Amrita Warring from Gidderbaha, Jatinder Kaur from Dera Baba Nanak, Ranjit Kumar from Chabbewal, and Kuldeep Singh Dhillon from Barnala. Amrita Warring is the wife of Ludhiana MP Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, while Jatinder Kaur is married to Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.
The Gidderbaha seat is witnessing a three-cornered contest. BJP’s Manpreet Singh Badal, a former finance minister and five-time legislator, is competing against Congress’ Amrita Warring and AAP’s Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon, who is a former Shiromani Akali Dal member. The Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) has also fielded Sukhraj Singh. Historically, Gidderbaha was an Akali stronghold, represented by Parkash Singh Badal for five terms before passing the mantle to his nephew, Manpreet Badal, in 1995.
In Dera Baba Nanak, Congress’ Jatinder Kaur faces AAP’s Gurdeep Singh Randhawa and BJP’s Ravikaran Singh Kahlon. Chabbewal features a contest between AAP’s Ishank Kumar, Congress’ Ranjit Kumar, and BJP’s Sohan Singh Thandal, an Akali Dal defector who previously won the seat in 2012 but lost in 2017 and 2022.
Punjab’s 117-member Assembly currently has 90 seats held by the ruling AAP. The Opposition Congress occupies 13 seats, while the Shiromani Akali Dal holds three, BJP two, BSP one, and Independents three.
