The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won the Visavadar in Gujarat and Ludhiana West seats in Punjab in Assembly by-polls on Monday, June 23, while the BJP secured the Kadi seat. The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) secured Kerala's Nilambur Assembly constituency. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) is on the verge of securing Kaliganj in West Bengal, which goes to the polls next year. The Kerala's Nilambur seat was crucial for Congress as it is part of the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency represented by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
The AAP retained the Ludhiana West seat, with former Rajya Sabha MP and industrialist Sanjeev Arora winning by a margin of over 10,000 votes. These by-elections were the party's litmus test, as it had faced many quakes after the Delhi Assembly elections.
The AAP gave its all in the Ludhiana West bypoll, with its top brass - Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, and Atishi - campaigning extensively for Arora. AAP former state president Gopal Italia defeated former BJP district president Kirit Patel in Visavadar. Italia won 75,942 votes, winning by over 17,000 votes.
Former Delhi Chief Minister and AAP mentor Arvind Kejriwal thanked to the people of Punjab and Gujarat said, "victory margin has almost doubled compared to the previous election."
"Heartiest congratulations to all on the spectacular victory of the Aam Aadmi Party in Gujarat's Visavadar and Punjab's Ludhiana West seats. Many congratulations and heartfelt thanks to the people of Gujarat and Punjab. In both places, the victory margin has almost doubled compared to the previous election," wrote former Delhi CM in a post on X.
"This shows that the people of Punjab are very pleased with our government's work and have given even more votes than in 2022. The people of Gujarat are now fed up with the BJP and see hope in the Aam Aadmi Party. In both constituencies, Congress and BJP, both parties fought the election together. Their sole purpose was to defeat "AAP". But the public in both places rejected both these parties," he said, attacking the BJP and the Congress.