AAP misused govt machinery in Ludhiana (West) byelection, claims Jeevan Gupta

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Ludhiana (West) Assembly constituency Jeevan Gupta addressed a press conference at the district BJP office located in Dugri here. Speaking to the media, Gupta said that while the BJP accepted the verdict given by the people, this by-election raised several questions about the functioning of the state government.

He alleged that there was blatant misuse of government machinery during the election. “In some places, the voter turnout was extremely low, while in others it was unusually high, even touching 65-70%,” Gupta claimed. He cited a specific booth where only 465 votes were cast, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) secured around 412 votes, which he called highly suspicious.

Gupta criticised AAP leaders and ministers for celebrating the win, saying that, “They know very well that no real development has taken place in Punjab in the last three years. This victory was only possible because of misuse of power and machinery.” He also pointed out that the BJP had only 12 days to campaign, but despite that they reached out to the people effectively and earned 23% of the vote share, which is equivalent to BJP’s performance in the 2022 Assembly election.

“Our mission is to build a new Punjab,” he added, asserting that the BJP would continue to work day and night for the development of Ludhiana (West). He expressed confidence that by 2027, the BJP would form a double-engine government in Punjab.

Gupta vowed to expose the misuse of government resources by the AAP during this by-election.

Bittu takes responsibility for defeat

Union Minister for Railways and Food Processing Ravneet Singh Bittu today accepted responsibility for the BJP’s defeat in the Ludhiana byelection, while praising party candidate Jeevan Gupta for putting up a strong fight and securing over 20,000 votes.

Bittu admitted that the delay in finalising the BJP candidate was a key factor behind the party loss. “The announcement of Jeevan Gupta’s ticket was delayed as the party leadership was engaged with Operation Sindhoor campaign. This affected our campaign planning,” he said.