AAP won the Jalandhar Lok Sabha by-election by a margin of about 58k votes; Congress accepts defeat
Punjab E News: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) demolished the congress’s stronghold, considered strong, with a large number of votes it garnered during the Jalandhar by-election. AAP’s Sushil Rinku secured 302097 votes, defeating Congress candidate Karamjit Kaur by a margin of about 58,000 votes.
Congress candidate Karamjit Kaur secured 2,43,450 votes. The Congress had been in power in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency since 1999.
Sushil Rinku, who joined AAP from the Congress, not only won a big victory, but the Congress has made a strong dent in a stronghold like Jalandhar, which has been considered strong for two and a half decades.
Rinku had contested the assembly elections for the first time from Jalandhar West constituency and won. For the second time, he lost the 2022 elections to AAP leader Sheetal Angural. He had quit the Congress and joined the AAP during the Lok Sabha by-election.
Rinku has become the AAP MP to represent Jalandhar in the Lok Sabha for the first time. Rinku had started building the lead from the first round itself which continued till the end.
While BJP’s Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal continued to run at number three, he fell behind in the last rounds. While SAD-BSP alliance candidate Dr. Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi finished third with 158354 votes.
The Congress has accepted defeat in the Jalandhar by-election. Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said, “We humbly accept the people’s mandate. I thank the party workers, volunteers, supporters and everyone. I congratulate Sushil Rinku and AAP party for the victory.”