The Congress on Thursday snatched Punjab's Jalalabad assembly constituency that had been represented by Shiromani Akali Dal president and former deputy chief minister of Punjab Sukhbir Badal for ten years. The byelection was necessitated after Sukhbir was elected to the Lok Sabha from Ferozepur in May.
The grand old party bagged three of the four assembly constituencies to which byelections were held. It, however, lost the Dakha seat that went to Shiromani Akali Dal's Manpreet Singh Ayali. The seat fell vacant after Supreme Court lawyer H.S. Phoolka resigned from the AAP and the state legislature.
The Congress won in Phagwara, defeating BJP candidate Rajesh Bagha, in what is seen as a big blow to the saffron party. The seat fell vacant after Som Parkash, the sitting MLA, was elected to the Lok Sabha earlier in the year.
In Mukerian, Indu Bala, a new comer to politics and widow of Congress legislator Ranjish Kumar Babbi whose death led to the byelection, won. She trounced BJP's Jangi Lal Mahajan who was confident about winning Mukerian.
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh made particular reference to the party's win in Jalalabad, and said the voters in these byelections had rejected “the negative agenda of the Akalis”. Under his leadership, the Congress had brought to an end the two-year Akali rule in Punjab, in March 2017.
