Tarn Taran bypoll

THE byelection in Punjab’s Tarn Taran Assembly constituency, triggered by the death of AAP MLA Kashmir Singh Sohal in June, has delivered a result that carries weight beyond a routine mid-term contest. With a voter turnout of 60.95 per cent and a decisive finish in the final round, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party posted a clear victory. Its candidate Harmeet Singh Sandhu won the seat, securing over 42,000 votes, defeating SAD’s Sukhwinder Kaur Randhawa, who got around 30,500 votes. The margin reflects both AAP’s organisational strength and the fractured Opposition. The Waris Punjab De (WPD)-backed Independent candidate, Mandeep Singh Khalsa, made a strong showing with nearly 20,000 votes. The Congress finishing fourth and the BJP a distant fifth.

Tarn Taran, a largely rural, Sikh-majority district carved out of Amritsar in 2006, has long been shaped by agrarian distress, Panthic identity and local leadership dynamics. The crowded field of 15 candidates in this bypoll ensured that anti-AAP votes were scattered. The unexpectedly high tally for the WPD-backed candidate further splintered the traditional SAD vote bank, underlining the Akali Dal’s struggle to consolidate its base in Majha. For the Congress and the BJP, the results confirmed their marginalisation in a region once central to their electoral strategies. They reflect deeper organisational and narrative gaps that neither party has managed to bridge.

For AAP, however, the Tarn Taran verdict extends its winning streak: the party has won six of the seven byelections held since it came to power in March 2022. The victory bolsters its claims of stable governance and continued grassroots presence. Yet the party cannot afford complacency. Beneath the surface, farmer discontent, unemployment and rural stagnation persist as unresolved challenges. Tarn Taran’s verdict offers breathing space, not a blank cheque.