LUDHIANA, 23 June — Aam Aadmi Party’s Sanjeev Arora clinched a commanding victory in the Ludhiana West Assembly bypoll on Monday, defeating Congress candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu by a margin of 10,637 votes, further cementing AAP’s hold on the constituency.
According to official figures released after the 14th and final round of counting, Arora secured 35,179 votes, while Ashu trailed with 24,542. The BJP’s Jiwan Gupta finished third with 20,323 votes, followed by Shiromani Akali Dal’s Parupkar Singh Ghuman, who garnered 8,203. The bypoll was necessitated by the death of sitting AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi in January this year.
The contest saw 14 candidates in the fray and a voter turnout of 51.33 per cent, a noticeable decline from the 64 per cent recorded during the 2022 state assembly elections. Counting was held at Khalsa College for Women, with results declared by Monday afternoon.
Reacting to the defeat, Ashu stepped down from his post as Working President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, citing “moral responsibility.” He said he had asked the party high command to allow him to manage his campaign independently and that he stood by his team despite the outcome.
Meanwhile, AAP’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal hailed the bypoll results in both Punjab and Gujarat as a rejection of the two major national parties. “Many are calling these results the semi-final of 2027, but the real storm is yet to come,” he said in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “The people of Gujarat and Punjab have rejected both Congress and BJP.”
Kejriwal also praised AAP’s growing footprint beyond Delhi and Punjab, citing Gopal Italia’s victory in Gujarat’s Visavadar constituency as evidence. BJP’s Rajendra Chavda won the Kadi seat in Gujarat, as announced by election officials Monday.
“The margin of victory in both Ludhiana West and Visavadar has nearly doubled compared to the last election,” Kejriwal wrote. “Despite Congress and BJP contesting with the sole aim of defeating AAP, people stood with us.”
AAP leaders say the result not only solidifies their standing in Punjab but also signals increasing traction in states long dominated by national parties.
