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Punjab: AAP’s Harmeet Sandhu wins Tarn Taran byelection by 12,091 votes
Harmeet Singh Sandhu got 42,649 votes against Shiromani Akali Dal nominee Sukhwinder Singh Randhawa’s 30,558, while Independent candidate Mandeep Singh was in the third spot with 19,620 votes.
The ruling Aam Aadmi Party retained the Tarn Taran assembly seat in Punjab on Friday, with its candidate Harmeet Singh Sandhu defeating his nearest rival and Shiromani Akali Dal nominee Sukhwinder Kaur Randhawa by 12,091 votes.
Sandhu secured 42,649 votes against Randhawa’s 30,558 after the completion of all 16 rounds of counting, the Election Commission website showed.
Celebrations broke out at AAP offices in Tarn Taran and Chandigarh with party workers dancing to the dhol beats and bursting firecrackers to celebrate the victory.
SAD’s Randhawa was leading in the first three rounds of counting before Harmeet Singh Sandhu took over and maintained a steady lead.
Independent candidate Mandeep Singh was in the third spot with 19,620 votes, while Karanbir Singh Burj of the Congress came fourth with 15,078 votes and BJP’s Harjit Singh Sandhu was a distant fifth with 6,239 votes.
A total of 15 candidates were in the fray.
The counting of votes for the November 11 bypoll, which saw a voter turnout of 60.95%, began at 8am at the International College of Nursing, Piddi, amid tight security. There were a total of 1,92,838 eligible voters.
The Tarn Taran seat fell vacant after the death of AAP MLA Kashmir Singh Sohal in June.
The bypoll was being seen as a litmus test for Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann and the ruling AAP. With Friday’s win, the party has won six of the seven bypolls held in the state since it came to power in March 2022.
