Chandigarh: With the opposition parties going all out to snatch the Ludhiana West seat, the June 19 by-election in Punjab is being seen as a battle of prestige for the chief minister Bhagwant Mann-led ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), for it desperately needs to prevail so as to also boost its cadres after Delhi drubbing.
However, even though, the top state leaders of the principal opposition party Congress as well as other political majors Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and BJP senior leaders campaigned extensively for their respective nominees, all the top AAP leaders including party national convenor and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal camped in Ludhiana for several days in the ``do or die’’ battle to retain the seat as Punjab is the only AAP-ruled state in the country.
The AAP has fielded its Rajya Sabha member Sanjeev Arora, a Ludhiana-based industrialist, who is the richest candidate ever, in the state assembly polls, while Congress has fielded its senior leader Bharat Bhushan Ashu, who finished second in 2022 polls, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Parupkar Singh Ghuman, while the BJP has fielded its senior leader Jiwan Gupta.
Though Ashu, remains a strong local face, the internal strife in the party could cause a dent in his prospects; the AAP banks on its governance record, several protests against it from different quarters, notwithstanding.
The SAD had won this assembly seat twice when in alliance with BJP – 1997 and 2007, but this time, the two parties are fighting it separately.
Ashu was arrested when the AAP came to power in an alleged food-grains scam. He remained in jail for about two years till the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed the FIRs registered against him, terming them ``pure vendetta’’.
The AAP government on June 6, last, suspended Jagatpreet Singh, the senior superintendent of police (SSP), Vigilance Bureau (VB), a day after he issued summons to Ashu in connection with a five-month old school land misuse case, as the government suspected the summons were issued to give Ashu the benefit in the bypoll by getting him political sympathy.
POLL RESULT ON JUNE 23
It may be recalled that the Ludhiana (West) seat had fallen vacant following the demise of AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi on January 11, this year. He died at his home of a gunshot after his licensed weapon accidentally went off. The counting of votes will take place on June 23.
