Chandigarh: The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab on Saturday won three of the four Assembly constituencies on which elections were held on November 20, giving a morale boost to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
The main Opposition Congress won a lone seat that was the stronghold of the ruling party.
By winning three seats, the AAP’s tally in the 117-member Assembly rose to 95.
The AAP won the Chabbewal, Dera Baba Nanak and Gidderbaha Assembly constituencies, while the Congress won the Barnala seat.
The bye-elections were a high-stake battle for three sitting MPs, two from the Congress and one from AAP.
Punjab Congress President and MP Amrinder Singh Raja Warring’s wife, Amrita Warring, lost to Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon of the AAP from Gidderbaha.
Dhillon defeated the Congress nominee by 22,000 votes.
BJP candidate and former Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal was in the third spot.
AAP won the Chabbewal reserved seat with a significant margin and the highest-ever vote share.
The AAP’s candidate Ishank Kumar decisively defeated the Congress’ Ranjit Kumar by a margin of 28,690 votes.
Ishank got 51,904 votes, while Kumar secured 23,214 votes and BJP candidate Sohan Singh Thandal got only 8,692 votes.
After his win, Ishank expressed gratitude to the voters by saying, “I am deeply thankful to the people who have placed their trust in me. Now, it is my responsibility to repay that trust with dedicated service.”
Congress candidate Kuldeep Singh Dhillon won the Barnala seat, defeating the AAP’s Harinder Singh Dhaliwal by 2,157 votes.
BJP candidate Kewal Singh Dhillon secured 17,958 votes, while AAP rebel and Independent candidate Gurdeep Singh Batth secured 16,899 votes.
Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) candidate Govind Singh Sandhu got 7,900 votes.
Dera Baba Nanak, vacated by former Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, saw a neck-and-neck contest between Randhawa’s wife and Congress candidate Jatinder Kaur and AAP’s candidate Gurdeep Singh Randhawa.
The AAP candidate won by over 5,700 votes, with the BJP candidate finishing a distant third.
Despite the BJP banking on strong candidates, Manpreet Singh Badal, a former state finance minister and estranged nephew of ex-Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, lost badly from Gidderbaha.
However, in Barnala, BJP candidate Kewal Singh Dhillon secured 17,958 votes, the highest among the party candidates.
The four seats — three represented by the Congress and one by the AAP — fell vacant after MLAs from these constituencies were elected in this year’s Lok Sabha polls.
(IANS)
