Bypolls: Who’s Contesting In Punjab’s 4 Seats And Uttarakhand’s Kedarnath

The bypolls for four assembly seats in Punjab—Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal (SC), and Barnala—were held on November 20. These bypolls were necessitated after the MLAs representing these seats were elected to the Lok Sabha in the general elections held earlier this year. 

Of these four seats, Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak, and Chabbewal were previously held by the Congress, while the AAP held the Barnala seat. The results will be announced on November 23. 

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Here are the details about the contests in the four seats:

Gidderbaha: The seat became vacant after Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, the Congress legislator from this politically vital constituency, was elected as an MP from the Ludhiana parliamentary constituency. 

Amrita Warring is the Congress candidate from the seat, while BJP’s Manpreet Singh Badal, a five-time legislator and two-time finance minister, is also in the fray. AAP’s Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon, a former Akali Dal leader who switched to AAP, is contesting the seat, while the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) has fielded Sukhraj Singh. 

Dera Baba Nanak: The seat fell vacant after Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, a Congress MLA, was elected as an MP from the Gurdaspur parliamentary constituency. In this seat, Jatinder Kaur, the wife of Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, is the Congress candidate, while AAP’s Gurdeep Singh Randhawa and BJP’s Ravikaran Singh Kahlon are also contesting.

Chabbewal (SC): The vacancy arose when Raj Kumar Chabbewal, a Congress MLA who later joined AAP, was elected as an MP from the Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha constituency. Ishank Kumar, the son of Raj Kumar Chabbewal, is contesting for AAP, while Ranjit Kumar is the Congress candidate. BJP’s Sohan Singh Thandal, a former Akali Dal leader who won the seat in 2012 but lost in 2017 and 2022, is also in the fray.

Barnala: The seat became vacant after Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, the AAP legislator, was elected as an MP from the Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency. The Congress has fielded Kuldeep Singh Dhillon from this seat.

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The Punjab Legislative Assembly has 117 members. Currently, the ruling AAP holds 90 seats, the Congress has 13 seats, SAD holds three, BJP has two, BSP has one, and Independents hold three seats. In 2022, the AAP formed the government after winning 92 seats, with Bhagwant Mann becoming the Chief Minister.

Uttarakhand’s Lone Seat For Bypolls

Along with 14 seats across Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Kerala, Uttarakhand’s Kedarnath seat also went to polls on November 20. The assembly seat in Rudraprayag district fell vacant after the death of BJP MLA Shaila Rani Rawat in July this year.

Six candidates are in the fray, with BJP's Asha Nautiyal and Congress's Manoj Rawat seen as the main contenders in a direct contest. Both Nautiyal and Rawat have previously represented the Kedarnath assembly seat. 

In the last five assembly elections held in Kedarnath, the BJP has won three times, while the Congress has won twice.

After a clean sweep in the Lok Sabha elections, where it won all five seats, the BJP suffered defeats in two subsequent assembly by-elections in the state—Badrinath and Manglaur. This by-election is crucial for both parties: the BJP aims to retain the seat, while the Congress is looking to wrest it away.