Punjab bypolls: In Chabbewal, AAP secures resounding victory, gets highest ever vote share of 60.9%

After his win, Dr Ishank expressed gratitude to the voters. “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,” he said.

Dr Ishank got 60.9 per cent vote share of the total polled votes at 85,177. Only 53.43 per cent of voting took place, the lowest since 1977 barring 1992 when the SAD boycotted the elections during the peak terrorism period, in the Chabbewal Assembly seat. Dr Ishank Kumar maintained a consistent lead throughout all 15 rounds of vote counting.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal campaigned for Dr Ishank Kumar, and emphasised with an AAP MP already representing Hoshiarpur, electing the party’s candidate would ensure unmatched development in the region.

Although this was Dr Ishank’s first election, he is not new to politics. For over a decade, he has been actively involved in campaigning for his father, and is well-acquainted with the constituency’s issues. Dr Ishank also benefited from the goodwill generated by his father’s work in the area over the past two elections.

Two-way contest in Chabbewal

The contest in Chabbewal was primarily a two-way battle between AAP and Congress, as the BJP has minimal influence in this rural constituency, and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chose to stay out of the race.

Three Independent candidates contested the bypolls alongside those from the three major political parties. Collectively, the Independents secured fewer votes than the NOTA (None of the Above) option, under which 884 votes were polled.

In the past, in 1977 and 1980 when the SAD’s Kartar Singh got 58.63 per cent and 55.90 per cent vote share, respectively, which was the highest ever. Until 2007, the Assembly constituency was known as Mahilpur and after delimitation it became Chabbewal.

The Chabbewal seat was won by the Congress party in the 2017 and 2022 Assembly elections when Dr Raj Kumar Chabbewal, father of Dr Ishank, contested and won. However, Dr Raj Kumar defected to the AAP before the recent Lok Sabha elections, prompting the by-election. He then contested from the Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha seat on an AAP ticket and emerged victorious.

In the Lok Sabha elections, the AAP performed strongly in the Chabbewal Assembly segment of the Hoshiarpur parliamentary seat, maintaining a lead over Congress and the SAD.

For Congress candidate Advocate Ranjit Kumar, with over two decades of political experience, this was his second election, having earlier contested the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Hoshiarpur as a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate. Kumar, the Hoshiarpur District Bar Association president, was hoping to get BSP votes.

Kumar was perceived as an outsider in the Chabbewal constituency, as he had never been actively involved in local affairs. This perception was compounded by opposition from local Congress leaders who were working in the area and were hoping to secure the party ticket themselves.

Kumar began his political career with the BSP in 2002, becoming its state general secretary in 2020. He also served as a nominated member of the Bar Council of Punjab, Haryana, and Chandigarh, and is a trustee of the Ambedkar Bhawan Trust, Jalandhar. His nomination as the BSP candidate for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections came as a surprise due to last-minute changes in the party’s candidate list.

For the Chabbewal bypolls, he quietly joined Congress and secured the ticket, outpacing other hopefuls such as Kulvinder Singh Rasulpuri. Kumar’s campaign centred on tackling drug abuse, improving law and order, and criticising the ruling AAP government for its alleged failures.

On the other hand, the BJP’s Sohan Singh Thandal is a seasoned politician and former SAD minister. However, his chances in the bypolls were considered slim, as Chabbewal is a predominantly rural constituency where the BJP has a negligible base, though SAD had historically been strong.

Thandal served as a four-time MLA from Chabbewal between 1997 and 2012 and contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as a SAD candidate from Hoshiarpur. He recently switched to the BJP ahead of the Chabbewal bypolls. During his campaign, Thandal criticised the ruling AAP government for its alleged inability to address farmers’ issues and highlighted poor law and order under its administration. He also pointed to a lack of meaningful development in the state.