The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has turned the upcoming by-poll into a matter of prestige, with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann personally leading the campaign in Jalandhar. For the past few weeks, Mann has been stationed in the city, even renting a house to ensure a victory for AAP candidate Mohinder Bhagat in the Jalandhar (West) by-poll scheduled for July 10.
Reeling from a disappointing performance in the recent Lok Sabha elections in Punjab, where they secured only three out of thirteen seats, AAP is determined to win this poll. Mann’s presence and involvement underline the importance of this election for the party. The entire AAP Cabinet and all party MLAs are actively campaigning in the constituency, aiming to boost the morale of their supporters who were disheartened by the Lok Sabha results.
Despite AAP’s ambitious claims of winning all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab, they managed to win only three. The Congress secured seven seats, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) won one seat, and two seats went to independents. The Jalandhar (West) by-poll was necessitated by the resignation of AAP MLA Sheetal Angural, who defected to the BJP.
Mann is personally managing the campaign for Mohinder Bhagat, holding roadshows and meetings with the public and industrialists to garner support. He has pledged to remain in Jalandhar for three days post-election to ensure that residents of the Majha and Doaba regions do not need to travel to Chandigarh for their issues.
In the meantime, the Congress has nominated five-time councilor Surinder Kaur as their candidate. The party’s campaign is being led by state chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and Leader of Opposition Partap Bajwa. The recent victory of former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat, where he won by a margin of 1.75 lakh votes, has boosted the Congress’s confidence in winning the by-poll as well.
The BJP has entered the fray with former AAP MLA Sheetal Angural as their candidate. Angular is campaigning vigorously and has been critical of the AAP government and Bhagwant Mann.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has faced internal dissent regarding their candidate selection for this bypoll. Initially, led by Sukhbir Badal, the party announced Surjit Kaur as their candidate. However, due to internal rebellion and calls for Badal’s resignation, SAD withdrew its support for Kaur, claiming she was a choice of the rebel faction. Despite this, since the withdrawal date has passed, it appears that Surjit Kaur will contest under the SAD symbol, even without the party's official backing.
