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Chandigarh, Nov 14 (IANS) Ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections 2027, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Harmeet Singh Sandhu on Friday retained the Tarn Taran Assembly seat, defeating his nearest rival Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)’s Sukhwinder Kaur, who was leading by over 12,000 votes in the initial round of counting.
The bypoll was seen as a crucial test for Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and the AAP, which had won five of the six bypolls held in the state since coming to power in March 2022.
Independent candidate Mandeep Singh Khalsa, backed by radical Sikh groups and the faction of jailed MP Amritpal Singh, was in third place, while Congress’s Karanbir Singh Burj was in fourth place.
AAP’s Sandhu got a total of 42,649 votes and a margin of 12,091 votes.
Shiromani Akali Dal’s Kaur stood second with 30,558 votes, followed by Khalsa with 19,620 votes, Congress’s Karanbir Singh second with 15,078 votes and BJP’s Harjeet Singh Sandhu second with 6,239 votes.
Reacting to his party retaining the seat, state AAP chief and minister Aman Arora told the media here, “This victory is a recognition of the work done by the Bhagwant Mann government in Punjab. We put our work before the people, they accepted it and gave us a lot of respect. Heartfelt thanks to everyone.”
Expressing gratitude to the people of Tarn Taran who have reposed faith in the Shiromani Akali Dal in large numbers despite threats, false cases being filed and illegal detention at the behest of the Aam Aadmi Party, party MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal wrote on Twitter, “Today a clear message has been sent that the people are in favor of their regional party and they will show the way out to the Aam Aadmi Party when free and fair elections are held in 2027.”
The by-election was necessitated on November 11 after the seat became vacant due to the death of AAP MLA Kashmir Singh Sohal in June, in which 60.95 percent voting took place.
A total of 15 candidates were in the fray.
–IANS
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