AAP workers burst crackers as party leads in Jalandhar LS bypoll

PUNJAB: The local unit of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) burst crackers and distributed sweets in celebration after the latest trends by the Election Commission of India (ECI) showed the party leading from the Jalandhar constituency in the Lok Sabha bypoll.

Wielding brooms in their hands, they were sloganeering.

The counting began at 8.00 am on Saturday morning.

AAP’s Sushil Rinku is leading by more than 52000 votes over nearest rival Congress’ Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary, as per the latest data available on ECI’s official website at 12:25 pm.

“Congress has not done anything here. Rinku has won the hearts of people while being in power. We had confidence in our victory. We know his ability in politics. He will surely win,” a party leader said.

A tight security arrangement has been put in place in and around the counting centres set up at the office of the Director Land Records and Sports College Complex in Kapurthala Road.

The Jalandhar by-polls were held on 10 May and recorded a voter turnout of 54.70 per cent, well below the 63.04 per cent recorded in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The byelection for Jalandhar Lok Sabha, one of the 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in Punjab was warranted after sitting MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary of Congress passed away on January 14 this year following a cardiac arrest while taking part in the party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra.

As per the officials, all EVMs and VVPAT machines were kept in the ‘strong room’ after the voting and three-layer security has been installed.

In the elections, Congress has fielded Chaudhary’s widow Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary from Jalandhar, while BJP has fielded Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded Sushil Kumar Rinku, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has given a ticket to Dr Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi and Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) or SAD (A) has placed its hopes on Gurjant Singh Kattu to wrest this seat.