Jalandhar Lok Sabha by-poll 2023: After Punjab, Aam Aadmi Party has now made inroads in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha by-election. Defeating nearest rival Congress nominee Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary, AAP candidate Sushil Rinku won the poll by a margin of 58,691 votes and the victory emerged as a major setback for the grand old party. Rinku's triumph in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency broke the 24-year-old jinx. According to the Election Commission data, Rinku polled 3,02,279 votes while Chaudhary secured 2,43,588.
Shiromani Akali Dal candidate Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi, who was also backed by the Mayawati-led BSP, was in the third spot, while BJP nominee Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal was in the fourth position, as per the EC data.
The Jalandhar Lok Sabha by-poll was necessitated following the death of Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary in January.
Rinku broke the 24-year-old jinx
Rinku, a former Congress MLA defeated his closest rival, Congress's Karamjit Kaur by a margin of over 58,691 votes. As per the EC, a total of nineteen candidates were in the race. The voter turnout was recorded at 54.70 per cent however it was below the 63.04 per cent recorded in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
"We humbly accept people's mandate! I thank party workers, volunteers, supporters and the entire @INCPunjab leadership, for the hard work & efforts put in by them for the #JalandharByElection. I congratulate Sushil Rinku & AAP party for the victory," Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring conceded defeat and congratulated the AAP candidate.
