Chandigarh, 23 November 2024 – The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) emerged as the frontrunner in three of Punjab’s four assembly segments up for bypolls, with Congress holding the lead in Barnala, according to vote-counting trends on Saturday. The bypolls, held on November 20, followed the election of the incumbent MLAs to the Lok Sabha earlier this year.
In Chabbewal, AAP’s Ishank Kumar Chabbewal established a commanding lead of 21,081 votes over Congress candidate Ranjit Kumar after the 10th round of counting. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Sohan Singh Thandal trailed in third. Celebrations erupted among Ishank’s supporters as his victory appeared imminent.
Gidderbaha saw AAP’s Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon leading by 5,976 votes after four rounds, ahead of Congress candidate Amrita Warring, wife of Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring. Former Punjab finance minister and BJP candidate Manpreet Singh Badal was a distant third.
In Barnala, Congress candidate Kuldeep Singh Dhillon led by 2,750 votes over BJP’s Kewal Singh Dhillon after eight rounds of counting. AAP’s Harinder Singh Dhaliwal lagged in third.
A tight contest unfolded in Dera Baba Nanak, where AAP’s Gurdeep Singh Randhawa held a narrow lead of 505 votes over Congress’s Jatinder Kaur Randhawa after nine rounds of counting. Kaur, the wife of Congress MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, had led between the third and eighth rounds before slipping behind.
Counting began at 8 a.m., with trends indicating a strong showing for AAP in key segments.
