Cong’s Ashu finishes 2nd with 27% vote share

In a fiercely contested bypoll for the Ludhiana (West) Assembly constituency, Congress candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu secured second place with 24,542 votes (27.22%) of the total votes, trailing AAP’s Sanjeev Arora by a margin of 10,637 votes.

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Despite his previous runs in 2012 and 2017, Ashu’s campaign this time was marked by internal fragmentation. In 2012, Ashu had won with a high 62.8% vote share, which dipped to 54.4% in 2017.

While a faction led by former CM Charanjit Singh Channi, along with senior MLA Rana Gurjeet Singh and Pargat Singh, lent their support, key leaders, including Punjab Congress chief and Ludhiana Lok Sabha MP Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa stayed away. The ruling AAP repeatedly highlighted that Ashu and Warring were not on speaking terms, an issue that marred the campaign from the start.

Warring said that Congress had given a tough fight to the ruling AAP. “We fought the best fight against all odds as it was against government machinery. In the end, it was just a byelection. Our fight will continue and we will take it to a logical conclusion in 2027. We will also do a serious introspection because we believe we could have done very well.”

Ashu’s journey through the 14 rounds of counting was not without its drama. In round three, he slipped to third place behind BJP’s Jiwan Gupta, with both BJP and Congress enjoying a close race until the sixth round. Moreover, compared to the 2022 Assembly election, when Ashu secured 28.06% of the votes, this marginal dip in his vote percentage indicates that there has been no significant increase in his support base.

On the other hand, Congress leader Rana Gurjit Singh remained optimistic about the party’s future. He emphasised that the Congress respected the people’s mandate and was committed to introspecting and rebuilding. Despite the setback, he expressed confidence that the party would emerge stronger and form the government in Punjab in the 2027 Assembly elections.