Assembly bypolls: AAP bags two seats in Delhi, Congress wins in Kerala

Results of the five Assembly bypolls across four states brought some cheer to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) after its loss in the Delhi Assembly polls earlier this year.

 

The AAP managed to retain Gujarat’s Visavadar and Punjab’s Ludhiana West seat.

 

In Kerala, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) wrested Nilambur from the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF).

 

The Nilambur Assembly seat is one of the seven in the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency represented by Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Vadra had campaigned widely for Congress’ winning candidate Aryadan Shoukath. 

 

The Congress has projected the Nilambur win as evidence of the growing anti-incumbency against the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government in the run up to next year's Assembly polls in April 2026. The win is also a morale booster for the Congress’ new state unit leadership. 

 

In Gujarat, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) retained the Kadi Scheduled Caste reserved seat.

 

In the Visavadar seat, in Junagadh district, AAP’s Gopal Italia, former president of the party’s Gujarat unit, defeated BJP’s Kirit Patel, by a margin of 17,554 votes. The BJP has not won the Visavadar seat since 2007.

 

The seat fell vacant in December 2023 after the then AAP legislator Bhupendra Bhayani resigned and joined the ruling BJP. Gujarat Congress president Shaktisinh Gohil resigned from his post, taking moral responsibility for the defeat of the party's candidates in Kadi and Visavadar constituencies.

 

In West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) maintained its hold on the Kaliganj Assembly seat in Nadia district. The Kaliganj seat falls in Krishnanagar Lok Sabha constituency, which TMC’s Mahua Moitra represents. The bypolls in the five constituencies were held on June 19. 

 

In Punjab, AAP’s Sanjeev Arora won the multi-cornered contest for the Ludhiana West seat. Arora is currently a Rajya Sabha member from Punjab. 

 

AAP sources did not rule out the possibility that a senior party leader, including someone who lost the Delhi Assembly polls, could fill the vacancy arising from Arora’s election.

 

The byelection was necessitated following the death of AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi in January.

 

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal called the bypolls a “semi-final to 2027.” Punjab is due for Assembly polls in March 2027 and Gujarat by the end of that year.