Ground work, involvement of leaders: How AAP secured seat in Tarn Taran Bypoll

From the earliest days of the campaign, AAP treated Tarn Taran less as a bye-poll and more as a semi-final for 2027. The party’s central leadership and the state government left little to chance. National convener Arvind Kejriwal descended on the constituency, arguing that a win here would boost development in the neglected border region and strengthen the hands of Mann.

Mann himself addressed multiple rallies, framing the election as “truth vs deceit”, taking aim at the traditional parties and casting AAP’s governance record as decisive. Meanwhile, state ministers, MLAs and the party rank and file were mobilised for door to door outreach, village rallies and digital campaigns. The AAP had bet on a former SAD MLA in Sandhu, who personal connect is also being believed to have worked in his favour.

The party is satisfied with the margin of over 12,000 votes. Taran Tarn was vacated after the death in June of AAP’s MLA, Kashmir Singh Sohal, and the contest was widely viewed as a litmus test for the ruling party’s popularity.

With the win, AAP has now claimed six of the seven by-polls held in the state since it came to power in March 2022.

The party’s victory is however not without allegations of “misuse of government machinery.” The SAD lodged formal complaints with the Election Commission of India (ECI) alleging misuse of government machinery, including postings of favourable officers and threats of false FIRs against opposition workers. The run up to the election saw Election Commission of India suspending the Tarn Taran SSP, Ravjot Kaur Grewal, just days ahead of polling. This was ordered following complaints that the police had been acting as a “polling agent” for the ruling party.

The controversy stirred up by Punjab Congress Committee chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring following his remarks based on caste and colour against former Union Home Minister Buta Singh, worked wonders for the AAP in the constituency, having a sizeable population SCs. AAP insiders say that the comment “allowed AAP to consolidate minority and marginalised community support.” The wedge thus helped sharpen the narrative in AAP’s favour. “If Raja Warring keeps at it, we will comfortably win the 2027 Assembly elections also,” said AAP MLA Gurdev Singh Dev Mann adding that the victory was a referendum on the policies and works of the Mann government.

Despite the factors in AAP’s favour, the ruling party’s victory is not without concerns for future. The SAD, the regional party, written off by all political parties in Punjab turned out second, with Mandeep Singh Khalsa, of radical group bagging 19620 votes. The common restrain is that had the SAD contested unitedly, the results would have been different.

CM Mann has thanked the people of the constituency, “The resounding victory in the by-election for the Tarn Taran Assembly constituency has proven that the people of Punjab appreciate politics of performance. Under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal, the party is achieving victory.

The people of Punjab have once again reposed their trust in the AAP. This victory is a victory for the people, for our hard-working volunteers, and for the entire leadership. We will fulfill every promise made to the residents of Tarn Taran during the by-election on a priority basis. Many congratulations to the residents of Tarn Taran on this victory.”

Cabinet ministers Aman Arora, Barinder Goyal, Hardip Mundian and election incharge of the constituency, Laljit Bhullar addressed the media jointly and said, “This election is a stamp on the work of Bhagwant Mann’s government. The parties, Congress and BJP, that were raising questions on the working of the government, lost the security deposit. The Congress party tried to divide on the basis of caste and colour. The BJP too has been defeated with clarity by the people of Tarn Tarn. They have been talking about the governance of our government. It was the vote of dalits, urban and rural people alike to elect AAP candidate. This shows that AAP was acceptable to all sectors. Other parties said this was a semi-final of 2027 Assembly elections. Now, I am saying it was a semifinal for AAP. It is a victory of AAP , which has won with a huge margin,” said Arora.