Panjab By-Polls: AAP Wins 3, INC Wins 1

The results of the recent Panjab By-Polls were declared on 23 Nov. AAP won the Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak, and Chabbewal Assembly seats, while the INC won the Barnala seat. AAP has termed the results a semifinal before the Delhi state elections, expected to be held in February 2025. While it is usual for parties in power in a state to win By-Polls, INC’s losses are also related to them fielding wives of Members of Parliament (MPs) who vacated their Member of Legislative Assembly seats after the 2024 General Elections – Amrita Kaur Warring, wife of state INC President Amrinder Singh Raja Warring in Gidderbaha and Jatinder Kaur Randhawa, wife of senior INC leader Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa in Dera Baba Nanak. The BJP failed to win any seat as its candidates remained at a distant third spot in all four seats. Three of its candidates in Dera Baba Nanak, Gidderbaha, and Chabbewal lost their security deposits, leading to doubts about inroads the party has made in Panjab after its 18.5% vote share in the June 2024 General Elections. In the MP elections held in Wayanad, Kerala and Nanded, Maharashtra, INC won both seats with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Chavan Ravindra Vasant Rao winning respectively. In the Maharashtra elections, the BJP-led alliance comprising the Shinde faction of Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar faction of Nationalist Congress Party won with a huge margin. In the Jharkhand elections, Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance led by Jharkhand Mukti Morcha won handsomely. Meanwhile in Panjab, Aman Arora has replaced CM Bhagwant Singh Mann as the Panjab AAP President (SDW Vol 2, Issue 47, Story 4).