Major setback for Congress in Punjab ahead of 2027 polls

New Delhi: The Congress' hopes of gaining an upper hand in Punjab were dashed with the victory of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the by-elections in Ludhiana West.

AAP's Sanjeev Arora defeated Bharat Bhushan Ashu of the Congress in what was widely seen as a referendum on the performance of the ruling party and its chief minister, Bhagwant Singh Mann.

The Congress had pinned high hopes on Ashu to resurrect itself and score a moral victory over the AAP ahead of the assembly elections scheduled for 2027.

But Ashu's defeat is seen as a major setback for the Congress. One of the reasons for this loss is the prevailing infighting in the state unit. Right from the start of the campaign, the party failed to project a united front, and was visibly divided into different camps.

While Ashu, former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Rana Gurjeet Singh are part of one faction, Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja (Warring), Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, and Captain Sandeep Sandhu belong to the same camp.

Apparently, Ashu did not invite many senior leaders to campaign for him, and it was only afterthe  general secretary in-charge, Bhupesh Baghel, intervened that some top leaders, such as Partap Singh Bajwa, canvassed for Ashu.

Ashu had hoped that the BJP vote could shift this time, but that didn't happen.

The saffron party's Jiwan Gupta bagged 20,323 (22.54%) out of the total 90,160 votes polled on June 19. While Arora polled 35,179 (39.02%) votes, Ashu secured 24,542 (27.22%) votes.

The outcome of the by-poll is now expected to set the tone for the much-needed overhaul of the Congress in Punjab.

Warring is likely to be replaced to give sufficient time for the new president to prepare for the 2027 elections.