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The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday wrested the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat from the Congress in a high-stakes bypoll, ending the grand old party’s unbeaten run in the Dalit stronghold since 1999.
AAP’s Sushil Kumar Rinku won against Congress’s Karamjit Kaur, the wife of two-time MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary whose death had necessitated the bypoll, with a margin of 58,691 votes. Rinku, who joined the AAP after quitting the Congress ahead of the byelection, polled 3,02,279 votes while Chaudhary secured 2,43,588 votes, as per the Election Commission data.
The Congress lost 10.46 per cent of its vote share in the constituency, as compared to 2019, and its tally of Lok Sabha MPs from Punjab dropped to seven.
Jalandhar was witness to massive mobilisation and campaign leading up to the election. All the major parties in the state, including the Shrimonai Akali Dal (in alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party) and the BJP, were in the fray, but the main contest was always between the AAP and the Congress.
Even a united face did not help the Congress while Rinku, despite not having a base among Jalandhar voters, remained ahead in all rounds of the counting and polled 3,02,097 votes, including 182 postal votes, with a 34.05 per cent vote share —a huge improvement from the AAP’s 2.5 per cent vote share in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
Congress’s Karamjit Kaur finished a distant second with 2,43,588 (27.44 per cent) of the total 8,87,086 votes polled through EVMs and 540 postal votes. Surprisingly the BJP remained ahead of its former ally SAD in several round and finished fourth with 1,34,800 votes (15.19 per cent) in its first solo fight in the Lok Sabha constituency by registering number one position in two assembly segments.
The SAD-BSP combine stood at number three with 1,58,455 votes (17.85 per cent). The SAD (Amritsar), which won the Sangrur Lok Sabha bypoll last June by defeating the AAP, polled only 20,354 votes (2.29 per cent). A total of 6,661 votes were polled under NOTA.
What seemed to have worked in the AAP’s favour is the appeal of national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. Also, the AAP government pulled out all the stops to woo the locals in the run-up to the bypolls, announcing projects for various sections. Appealing to voters, the party said that the AAP should be given 11 more months before the next Lok Sabha elections in 2024 to fulfill all of its promises.
The party also banked on its welfare schemes of free power and health clinics. The party also made attempts to reach out to the large Christian community in the seat by the newly formed Christian party, the United Punjab Party. UPP subsequently withdrew its candidate from the fray and announced its support to AAP. The AAP’s strategy of inaugurating several projects in the adjacent districts during the campaign period also played a role.
Jalandhar, however, recorded one of the lowest turnouts since 1999 as only 54.70 per cent of voters exercised their franchise. And 1.34 per cent more women voted than men.
AAP wins 7 of 9 Assembly segments
While AAP won seven out of nine assembly segments, including Jalandhar Cantt, Jalandhar West, Shahkot, Kartarpur, Adampur, Nakodar and Phillaur, BJP secured Jalandhar North and Jalandhar Central. Congress remained at number two in seven segments and at number three in two.
AAP’s winning margin in the seven segments ranged between 273 votes in Shahkot to 10,682 in Kartarpur.
In 2022 Assembly elections, Congress had won in Phillaur, Adampur, Shahkot, Jalandhar North and Jalandhar Cantt. BJP has a strong base in all three urban constituencies including Jalandhar Central, Jalandhar North and Jalandhar Central.
Loss for Cong after five consecutive wins
The Jalandhar Parliament seat has witnessed 20 elections, including bypolls, since 1952. While the Congress won it 15 times, the SAD and the Janata Dal won twice each. And the AAP, which has been in the fray since 2014, has won the seat for the first time.
Since 1999 the constituency had been represented by Congress candidates. In 1999 the Congress’s Balbir Singh won with a 47.48 per cent vote share and Rana Gurjit Singh in 2004 with 46.46 per cent of the votes. Mohinder Singh Kaypee was elected in 2009 with a vote share of 45.34 per cent and Satonkh Chaudhary won the polls in 2014 and 2019, with voting shares of 36.56 per cent and 37.90 per cent respectively.
