CHANDIGARH: A Lok Sabha by-election a few months ahead of the parliamentary polls holds a symbolic value, that’s the traditional logic. However, the Jalandhar bypoll result has something more to show: the ruling AAP has won, snatching the seat from Congress that kept its hold over the seat for 24 years, and the BJP forfeited its deposit despite its vote share going up.
AAP’s “parachute candidate” Sushil Kumar Rinku won the seat defeating his nearest Congress rival Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary by a margin of 58,691 votes.AAP saved its prestige as it had lost the Sangrur by-poll last shortly after coming to power with a massive majority in Punjab. The win has given confidence to AAP for the civic body polls due soon.
Former Congress MLA Rinku switched loyalty days before the by-election. He is now the new AAP MP from Jalandhar. During the campaign for the bypoll, the ruling AAP highlighted its recent achievements such as 300 units of free power to domestic consumers, the 580 AAP clinics being set up by their government and the filling of 28,000 government vacancies.
The party leadership had appealed to the electorate that the party should be given 11 months before the Lok Sabha polls next year to perform because it has been just one year since the party came to power in
the state. This apparently struck an emotional chord with voters who were of the view that they will wait and see if AAP fulfils its promises before the parliamentary elections. Besides, the party reached out to every ‘dera’ in the area that has a huge following among the voters.
The bypoll was necessitated by the demise of Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary who died during the Bharat Jodo Yatra earlier this year. The BJP was pushed to the 4th place, losing its security deposit, despite running an aggressive campaign. Its former ally Shiromani Akali Dal in alliance with BSP stood a poor third. The BJP though improved its vote share from 12% in the last assembly polls to 15.19%.
Complimenting AAP workers for their work, AAP supremo and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said, “We do the politics of work and seek votes from people for our work, and people have put a stamp of approval on Bhagwant Mann government’s work.’’