LUDHIANA: Sanjeev Arora MP Rajya Sabha and Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) candidate from Ludhiana West by-election today won the election by a margin of 10076 votes defeating his nearest rival Bharat Bhushan Ashu of Congress party.
Arora was polled 33.44 votes against 22968 got by Congress candidate. BJP candidate Jeewan Gupta remained at third place with 18676 votes and SAD candidate Parupkar Singh was polled 739 votes.
It is expected that AAP will nominate former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal to Rajya Sabha from Punjab in a seat vacated by Sanjeev Arora. Arvind Kejriwal presently not occupying any constitutional post after his party's defeat in Delhi.
Ludhiana is a urban seat where most rich of Ludhiana city live and it is alleged that AAP had used arm twisting tactics to get votes of workers working in factories owned by businessmen residents of Ludhiana west constituency.
The result is considered encouraging for the Congress and BJP while it is big setback for SAD. The Akali Dal was looking to make a comeback after series of defeats in 2022 general elections and Lok Sabha polls. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP polled the highest number of votes from the Ludhiana (West) segment.
The polling for the lone seat was held on June 19, which saw 51.33 per cent voting out of 1.74 lakh electorates. The seat fell vacant after the death of AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi in January.
In total, 14 candidates are in the fray for the urban seat.
Manish Sisodia former Delhi Deputy CM has hailed the victory of party. He said that it was mandate to good work done by CM Bhagwant Mann. He said that AAP will form next government in Punjab in 2027.