Punjab: AAP retains Tarn Taran assembly seat, celebrations erupt at party offices

Tarn Taran (Punjab), Nov 14 (PTI) Punjab's ruling AAP retained the Tarn Taran assembly seat with its candidate Harmeet Singh Sandhu defeating his nearest rival and SAD nominee Sukhwinder Kaur Randhawa by a margin of 12,091 votes.

Harmeet Singh Sandhu secured 42,649 votes against Randhawa's 30,558 after the completion of all 16 rounds of counting, the Election Commission website showed.

Celebrations broke out at AAP offices in Tarn Taran and Chandigarh, with party workers dancing to drumbeats and bursting firecrackers.

Sandhu, along with party workers, took out a victory march here.

Shiromani Akali Dal's (SAD) Randhawa was leading in the first three rounds of counting before Harmeet Singh Sandhu took over and maintained a steady lead.

Independent candidate Mandeep Singh was in the third spot with 19,620 votes, Congress' Karanbir Singh Burj was fourth with 15,078 and BJP's Harjit Singh Sandhu was a distant fifth with 6,239 votes.

A total of 15 candidates were in the fray.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said the AAP's victory in the bypoll shows that the people of Punjab appreciate the politics of work.

"The people of Punjab have once again reposed their trust in the Aam Aadmi Party. This is the victory of the people, of our hard-working volunteers, and of the entire leadership. We will fulfil every promise made to the residents of Tarn Taran during the bypoll on a priority basis," he said in a post on X.

Cabinet minister and Punjab AAP president Amam Arora said the victory is people's stamp on development works carried out by his party's government.

Opposition parties were calling this bypoll the semi-final before the 2027 Punjab assembly polls. The AAP has won the semi-final and it will certainly win the final, he claimed.

AAP's Punjab in-charge Manish Sisodia congratulated party leaders and workers for the victory.

Voters have once again rejected Akali Dal, Congress and BJP, he said.

Without naming anyone, Sisodia castigated the Punjab Congress leaders over their alleged "anti-Dalit" statements during the poll campaign and claimed that people expressed their displeasure against such remarks.

He was apparently referring to Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring's alleged "casteist" remarks against former Union minister late Buta Singh.

Punjab minister Harbhajan Singh said the AAP was sure of its victory in the bypoll due to the work done by its government in the state.

"It is the victory of the government's work," Singh told reporters.

Cabinet minister Laljit Singh Bhullar described the bypoll outcome as the victory of truth and the defeat of falsehood.

With the bypoll win, the AAP's strength has reached 94 in the 117-member Punjab Assembly.

Congress has 16 seats in the House, SAD three, BJP two, Bahujan Samaj Party one, and one seat is held by an Independent.

The Tarn Taran seat fell vacant after the death of AAP MLA Kashmir Singh Sohal in June.

The bypoll was being seen as a litmus test for Mann and the AAP. With Friday's win, the party has won six of the seven bypolls held in the state since it came to power in March 2022. PTI CHS VSD DIV DIV