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Cong routs BJP in Gurdaspur bypoll
October 15 turned out to be good day for the Congress and its allies. With a thumping win in the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency in Punjab and a significant victory for its ally, the Indian Union Muslim League, in the Kerala Assembly constituency Vengara, the grand old party has reiterated the signs of resurgence it has shown in the last few months.
- Jakhar breaks all records, wins by 1.93 lakh vote margin
- Party ally IUML wins the Vengara Assembly in Kerala
Amritsar/New Delhi : October 15 turned out to be good day for the Congress and its allies. With a thumping win in the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency in Punjab and a significant victory for its ally, the Indian Union Muslim League, in the Kerala Assembly constituency Vengara, the grand old party has reiterated the signs of resurgence it has shown in the last few months.
The Congress' Sunil Jakhar defeated the BJP's Swaran Salaria by an imposing margin of 1,93,219 votes to become the Lok Sabha MP-elect from Gurdaspur in Punjab.
For Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, Jakhar's win "shows the people's complete denunciation of the corrupt and immoral BJP and SAD." The SAD, or Shiromani Akali Dal, is the BJP's ally in Punjab.
Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu called the win a "beautiful Diwali gift, packed with a red ribbon" for Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.
The Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat has been vacant since BJP MP Vinod Khanna died in April. The veteran actor was elected four times from the constituency.
Sunil Jakhar polled over 4.99 lakh votes, and was in the lead right from the time counting began. Congress leaders and workers began celebrating even before the final result was announced. The BJP's candidate, Swaran Salaria, polled 3.06 lakh votes
Another contender, the Aam Aadmi Party's Major General Suresh Kumar Khajuria (retired), accused the Congress of rigging the voting. He had won just 24,000 votes.
There are 15.22 lakh registered voters in Gurdaspur. Almost 56 per cent of them voted, far fewer than the 70 per cent who cast their vote in the 2014 parliamentary elections.
Similarly, the victory of the IUML in Vengara was a foregone conclusion as the party has always held this seat. IUML MLA PK Kunjalikutty vacated his Assembly seat to contest the Malappuram Lok Sabha seat after its representative, the IUML leader E Ahamed, died of a cardiac arrest in New Delhi earlier this year.
Malappuram, a Muslim-majority district, has often attracted attention because both the Social Democratic Front of India, the political wing of Popular Front of India, and the BJP have been trying to get a foothold in the area. Both of them have often raked up communal issues to fight the United Democratic Front and the Left Democratic Front.
