Buzz over possibility of Jalandhar Central bypoll

Buoyed by AAP’s win in the Ludhiana West bypoll, party circles are agog with buzz about the party going for the bypoll in the Jalandhar Central too.

Party sitting MLA from Jalandhar Central Raman Arora has been behind bars since May 23 in an alleged case of corruption lodged by the Vigilance Bureau. “To set its narrative right on the issue of corruption, Arora has already been sidelined and industrialist Nitin Kohli has been made Jalandhar Central halqa in-charge”, said a party leader.

After the Ludhiana bypoll results, party sources do not rule out the possibility of Arora being asked to put in his papers so that the bypoll could be held to sustain the narrative of its popularity graph.

AAP's local leadership already seems to be on a preparatory mode for the election. Within days of Arora being arrested, the party's state incharge Manish Sisodia had visited Jalandhar and declared Kohli as Jalandhar Central halqa in-charge. Ever since, he has already opened his office and even been convening meetings with officials of the Municipal Corporation, seeking more allocation of funds for pending works in the Jalandhar Central Assembly segment.

Jalandhar has already seen two bypolls since the AAP rule in the state. Both had gone in favour of the party. In 2023, the Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll had been conducted which was won by then AAP candidate Sushil Rinku (who switched to BJP within 10 months). In June 2024, AAP candidate Mohinder Bhagat had won the Jalandhar West bypoll after resignation of MLA Sheetal Angural. AAP has also been able to elect its Mayor in the Municipal Corporation election in December last.

In the 2022 Assembly poll, Arora had won with a slender margin of 247 votes against ex-MLA of Congress Rajinder Beri. From the BJP, ex-minister Manoranjan Kalia was contesting from the seat. In the VB case, MLA Arora's son Rajan Arora and relative Raju Madaan too have been booked but are yet to be arrested.

Most of the local leaders are of the opinion that the party could now go in for the Jalandhar Central byelection but no one came on record to say that. General Secretary of AAP Deepak Bali said, "We are now heading towards Mission 2027. People of Ludhiana have voted for our new industrial policy and our proposed land pooling scheme." He, however, chose not to comment on the possibility of the Jalandhar Central bypoll.