Punjab Assembly bypoll: AAP's Mohinder Bhagat expresses gratitude after victory in Jalandhar West seat

Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], July 13 : Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Jalandhar West assembly by-poll candidate Mohinder Bhagat expressed gratitude to party members after he won the Jalandhar West assembly seat by defeating his nearest rival and BJP nominee Sheetal Angural by a margin of more than 37,000 votes.
AAP has retained the Jalandhar West seat in the by-election by winning the seat with a margin of 37,235 votes and polling 55,246 (58.39 pc) votes out of the total 94,609 counted votes.
While Mohinder Bhagat polled 55,246 votes, the BJP's Sheetal Angural secured 17,921.
Congress nominee Surinder Kaur, who was in the third spot, got 16,757 votes.
Taking to his social media handle on the microblogging site, Bhagat posted on X, "Congratulations to the Aam Aadmi Party for its excellent victory in the by-election of Jalandhar West Vidhan Sabha constituency. Heartfelt thanks to the office bearers and volunteers of the party. Those who worked day and night for the promotion of the party. Thank you all for giving us a big lead."
Speaking to ANI, on AAP's victory in the Jalandhar West seat of Punjab, AAP leader Sanjay Singh said, "Aam Aadmi Party has got a 'vardan' that whoever betrays Aam Aadmi Party, the public will defeat him badly in the elections and his political career will end. Whoever left the Aam Aadmi Party and joined the BJP, his political career is over."
"Rinku Singh left AAP and lost the election, Sheetal left AAP and also lost the election. Aam Aadmi Party is a family, and everyone should stay together. We should stay together in times of crisis, we will win even the biggest battles. I want to congratulate the CM of Punjab and the party workers for this big victory," Singh said.
AAP MP Sandeep Pathak also spoke to ANI and said, "The AAP MP who won the seat previously, joined the BJP. The AAP MLA who won the seat also joined the BJP. I feel sorry for both of them. People felt betrayed by their decision, so they gave a befitting reply. This also proves the trust of the people of Punjab in CM Bhagwant Mann and his governance."
Taking a dig at the BJP, Pathak said, "The BJP can keep Arvind Kejriwal in jail but they don't know his roots run deep. He cannot be easily defeated. The BJP's main focus is on poaching leaders from other parties and sending them to jail. They are not focused on their work."
Earlier in the day, Punjab Minister Harpal Singh Cheema expressed confidence in the party and said, "I want to thank the people of Jalandhar West. I am confident of retaining this seat by a huge margin. People are with AAP. We are working for the people of Punjab and in their favour."
Meanwhile, Congress candidate and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's wife, Kamlesh Thakur, won the assembly by-election from the Dehra constituency by defeating Hoshyar Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Kamlesh Thakur was leading by over 9,000 votes against Hoshyar Singh in the final round of counting on Saturday.
After winning the Dehra assembly by-polls, Kamlesh Thakur, said, "The party leaders and workers worked day and night for this day. I will give all credit to the people who stood by the party throughout. I am proud of the people of Dehra."
Chief Minister Sukhu also spoke to ANI on Congress leading on two out of three assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh and said, "People of Himachal gave us 40 seats in 2022. People have given a befitting reply to the kind of poaching that happened in state politics in the past."
Congress candidate Hardeep Singh Bawa is leading the Nalagarh assembly constituency in Himachal Pradesh by 6,870 votes against the BJP's KL Thakur in the penultimate round of counting. The only silver lining for the BJP in the assembly by-elections is in Hamirpur, where its candidate Ashish Sharma was leading by a slender margin of 1,571 votes in the final round of counting.
The seats fell vacant after the three independent legislators, Hoshiyar Singh (Dehra), Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur) and K L Thakur (Nalagarh), who had voted in favour of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha polls held on February 27, resigned from the state assembly on March 22 and joined the party the next day.
The counting of votes for the 13 legislative assembly seats spread across seven states began on Saturday morning. Polling took place on July 10 for the assembly seats.