Bypolls 2023 results: AAP wins Jalandhar LS seat; BJP allies Apna Dal and UDP, BJD win in states

Bypoll Election Results 2023: The counting of votes for the Jalandhar parliamentary constituency in Punjab and four Assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Meghalaya concluded on Saturday. The AAP on Saturday emerged victorious in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat bypoll in Punjab while in the assembly by-elections, BJP allies Apna Dal (Sonelal) won in Uttar Pradesh and the UDP in Meghalaya and the BJD bagged a seat in Odisha.

Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency

Aam Aadmi Party won the Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency with a margin of 58,647 votes. AAP candidate Sushil Kumar Rinku defeated  Congress' Karamjit Kaur.

“This is a victory of the efforts put in by CM Bhagwant Mann for the people of Punjab,” said AAP leader Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal after party candidate Sushil Kumar Rinku extends lead.

'We will try to live up to expectations'

Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann said that his party will try to live up to the expectations of the people of Jalandhar. "Today marks the entry of AAP in Lok Sabha. I am hopeful that we will soon have a majority in the Lower House," says party chief Arvind Kejriwal.

Mann meets Kejriwal 

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann met party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal at his residence in the national capital.

For the high-stakes Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency the fight was between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). The bypoll result is also be seen as the one-year performance of the Bhagwant Mann government.

The Jalandhar parliamentary constituency fell vacant after Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary died following a cardiac arrest during the party's Bharat Jodo Yatra on January 14 this year.

Former MLA Sushil Rinku, who quit the Congress to join the ruling party, contested as AAP’s candidate while the Congress has pitted Karamjit Kaur, the wife of Santokh Chaudhary. The BJP had fielded Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal, a Dalit Sikh, who quit the Shiromani Akali Dal and the SAD has shown its faith in two-time MLA from Banga seat Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi, who is a doctor.

The bypoll, held on May 10, recorded a voter turnout of 54.70 per cent. The turnout was well below the 63.04 per cent recorded in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Of the 16,21,800 (16.21 lakh) eligible voters, 8,87,154 (8.87 lakh) exercised their franchise.

Jalandhar Police Commissioner Kuldeep Chahal said that the security arrangements are tight. "The security arrangements are tight as we have assistance from 5 companies of paramilitary, Punjab Armed forces as well as Punjab district police," said Chahal.

Suar Assembly constituency, Rampur, UP

BJP ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) won the Suar assembly seat with a margin of 8724 votes. Apna Dal (Sonelal) candidate Shafeek Ahmed Ansari defeated Samajwadi Party Anuradha Chauhan to win the Suar assembly by-election in Uttar Pradesh.

In Uttar Pradesh, the tough competition was between the BJP-led ruling coalition and the Samajwadi Party (SP), the main opposition. Rampur’s Suar assembly seat is a stronghold of SP and party leader Azam Khan and his son Abdullah Khan have campaigned for the party while BJP left the seat for its ally Apna Dal (S). The Suar seat was held by Abdullah Azam Khan, who had to vacant after a Moradabad court sentenced the MP to two years in jail in a 15-year-old case.  In the 2022 UP elections, Abdullah Khan had defeated Apna Dal (Sonelal)'s Haidar Ali Khan by a margin of over 61,000 votes.  
The Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party and Congress had decided not to contest the election. 

Chhanbey Assembly constituency, Mirzapur, UP

Apna Dal (S) got its second success when Rinki Kol defeated SP's Kirti Kol by 9,587 votes to win the Chhanbey (SC) assembly seat. The seat was vacant after Chhanbey’s MLA Rahul Prakash Kol of Apna Dal (Soneylal) passed away in February after prolonged cancer. The party had fielded Kol's wife Rinki Kol while Kirti Kol, daughter of former lawmaker Bhai Lal Kol is contesting as the SP candidate. A total of eight candidates are in the fray for this seat.

Jharsuguda Assembly constituency, Odisha

BJD candidate Dipali Das won Odisha's Jharsuguda assembly bypoll by a margin of 48,619 votes. The BJD secured 107003 votes, BJP 58384 votes and Congress managed to secure 4473 votes after the culmination of all the rounds of counting.

BJD workers celebrated and raise slogans as party's candidate Dipali Das wins Jharsuguda Bypoll.

'Victory of people'

After winning Jharsuguda Bypoll, Dipali Das said that This is a victory of the people. "This is a victory of the people of Jharsuguda, of those who loved my father, of the Chief Minister, of the people and BJD and of everyone associated with my father. This is a victory of Naba Das..," she said.

A total of nine candidates were in the fray for this seat. However, the contest was mainly between the BJD, BJP and Congress. BJD had fielded Das's daughter Deepali Das while BJP nominated Tankadhar Tripathy. Congress had fielded Tarun Pandey, the son of late MLA Biren Pandey.

The by-election was necessitated following the murder of sitting MLA and the then Health Minister of the state Naba Kishore Das on January 29 this year.

Sohiong Assembly constituency, Meghalaya

In Meghalaya, United Democratic Party candidate Synshar Kupar Roy Thabah won the Sohiong assembly seat in Meghalaya. Sohiong Assembly seat was vacant after the death of United Democratic Party (UDP) candidate HDR Lyngdoh on February 27 this year. 

A total of six candidates, Synshar Lyngdoh Thabah of the UDP, Samlin Malngiang of the National People's Party (NPP), S Osborne Kharjana of the Congress, Sandondor Ryntathiang of the Hill State People's Democratic Party (HSPDP), Sereph E Kharbuki of the BJP, and Stodingstar Thabah of the TMC, were in the fray.

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