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Ludhiana: Congress secures win after repoll in Khanna Ward 2
Congress gets 261 votes, Aam Aadmi Party 149 votes, BJP and Shiromani Akali Dal receive 14 and 5 votes, respectively; these votes were added to the previous tally, declaring Satnam Chaudhary’s victory by a margin of 263 votes.
The Congress emerged victorious in the by-election for Ward 2 of the Khanna Municipal Council after re-polling was conducted at the polling booth number 4 on Monday. The Election Commission had ordered re-voting following the vandalisation of an EVM machine during vote counting on Saturday.
In the re-polling, the Congress secured 261 votes, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) garnered 149 votes and the BJP and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) received 14 and 5 votes, respectively. These votes were added to the previous tally, declaring Congress candidate Satnam Chaudhary winner by a margin of 263 votes.
According to the results, Satnam Chaudhary of Congress received 798 votes. Gurdeep Kumar Vicky Mashal of AAP secured 535 votes. BJP’s Hasandeep Singh Channi received 286 votes while Mandeep Singh Gabbar of SAD managed 197 votes. Harjot Singh, an independent candidate, received five votes.
The re-polling was necessitated after an EVM machine at polling booth number 4 was damaged during counting allegedly by the AAP candidate and his aides. At that point, the Congress had already established a lead of 145 votes.
Former cabinet minister Gurkirat Singh Kotli described the Congress victory as a “triumph of truth” and accused AAP leaders of orchestrating the EVM vandalism to disrupt the counting process. He alleged that three AAP leaders broke the EVM on Saturday and that the police, under political pressure, refrained from registering a case against them.
Kotli further said that without the intervention of Congress leaders and residents, the administration might have declared the AAP candidate as the winner. He also announced plans to seek justice through the high court to ensure the culprits responsible for the incident face legal consequences.
Congress candidate Satnam Chaudhary thanked the voters and called his win a “victory for the people.”
Congress leaders in Khanna had on Sunday staged a protest seeking the re-poll. Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and leader of Opposition in assembly Partap Singh Bajwa had joined the protesters.
