Himachal CM Sukhu and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann
India Alliance has won by-elections to one assembly seat in Punjab and three assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh. Out of four seats, India Alliance has won three seats while one seat has gone to NDA i.e. BJP. The Aam Aadmi Party has won the Jalandhar West seat in Punjab and the Congress has won the Dehra and Nalagarh seats in Himachal Pradesh. Hamirpur seat has gone to BJP account. Now different political interpretations are being made regarding the results of this by-election.
First, if we talk about the Jalandhar West assembly seat in Punjab, the seat fell vacant after the resignation of Sheetal Angural, who contested on an Aam Aadmi Party ticket in the 2022 elections and became an MLA. After which Sheetal Angural joined BJP. BJP announced him as its candidate in the election, but BJP could not do any miracle.
Mohinder Pal won the Jalandhar West seat unilaterally.
Aam Aadmi Party’s Mohinder Pal Bhagat won the seat by more than 37,000 votes in a one-sided election. Along with the entire state unit of the Aam Aadmi Party, CM Bhagwant Man himself had made all-out efforts for this seat. CM Bhagwant Mann himself lived in a rented house in Jalandhar West area with his family and was in charge of the entire election campaign.
With this victory, it can be said that CM Bhagwant Mann was able to save his credibility. In the recently held Lok Sabha elections, despite being in power in Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party won only three out of 13 seats. That is why the party is touting this by-election victory as its biggest victory.
CM Sukhu saved his credibility in Himachal
The reputation of Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu was also at stake. Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu’s wife Kamlesh Thakur was contesting from Dehra assembly constituency and ensuring her victory on this seat became a question of prestige for CM Sukhu. By winning big in these elections, Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu wanted to prove that the public still had faith in him and the Congress Party.
One out of three seats in Himachal is in BJP’s account.
In the by-elections held on three seats in Himachal Pradesh, Congress won two seats and BJP one seat. These three seats fell vacant after the resignation of three independent MLAs. After the seat fell vacant, CM Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu was questioning that independent MLAs had resigned at the behest of BJP when there was no need for resignation and public had to bear the burden due to the resignation of independent MLAs. is unnecessary. However, these election results did not have any significant impact on the Himachal government as the Congress was already in majority.
