Ludhiana, June 18, 2025: As the clock struck 6 pm on Tuesday, the high-stakes campaign for the Ludhiana West Assembly bypoll officially concluded, bringing a close to days of intense canvassing, roadshows, and public outreach. Candidates have now pivoted to door-to-door interactions in a last-ditch effort to connect with voters ahead of the June 19 polling.
A total of 14 candidates are contesting the byelection, which was necessitated by the death of AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi in January. A voter base of 1,74,437 — including 89,602 men, 84,825 women, and 10 voters from the third gender — will decide the fate of the contenders across 194 polling stations. Vote counting is scheduled for June 23.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has nominated Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora, who is drawing on the government’s three-year track record and his legislative work. Meanwhile, the Congress has fielded Bharat Bhushan Ashu, its state unit working president and a two-time MLA from the constituency. BJP’s Jiwan Gupta and SAD’s Paropkar Singh Ghumman are also in the fray, making it a multi-cornered contest.
The last day of campaigning saw packed roadshows by key players, triggering traffic disruptions across Ludhiana. To ensure public order, the police conducted a flag march in several areas.
“Our campaign focused on development and clean governance,” said Sanjeev Arora. In contrast, Ashu charged the AAP government with failing on all fronts. “The people are fed up with rising unemployment, farmer distress, inflation, drugs, and unkept promises,” he said.
While the Akali Dal echoed the Congress’ criticism of the ruling party, the BJP leaned on the appeal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the central government’s track record. “People have seen the power of decisive governance in the last 11 years,” said BJP candidate Jiwan Gupta, adding that Operation Sindoor had boosted public confidence in the government’s will to act.
The seat has a history of shifting loyalties. In 2022, AAP’s Gogi had unseated Ashu by 7,512 votes, ending his decade-long run. However, in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Ludhiana West backed BJP’s Ravneet Singh Bittu — even though the broader Ludhiana parliamentary seat went to Congress’ Raja Warring.
With polling just a day away, political observers see this bypoll as a bellwether for the state’s 2027 Assembly elections.
