Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], May 13 : Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav Chadha on Saturday congratulated party candidate Sushil Kumar Rinku for inching towards victory in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll.
Taking to his Twitter handle, AAP MP Chadha wrote, "AAP is back in the Lok Sabha! Congratulations to @AamAadmiParty's Sushil Kumar Rinku on winning the Jalandhar by-poll. Thank you, Jalandhar! Today's win reflects the strengthening of people's faith in @ArvindKejriwal 's leadership and @BhagwantMann 's pro-people governance".
Meanwhile, the local unit of the AAP burst crackers and distributed sweets in celebration of the latest trends.
Rinku has so far polled 3,02,097 votes, while Congress nominee Karamjit Kaur has secured 2,43,450 votes.
BJP nominee Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal was at the third spot, while Shirom Akali Dal candidate Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi, who is also backed by the Mayawati-led BSP, was at the fourth third spot, the trends of 1:40 pm showed.
Atwal so far polled 1,34,706 votes and Sukhi 1,58,354 votes.
The bypoll, voting for which was held on May 10, was necessitated following the death of Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary on January 14 this year following a cardiac arrest while taking part in the party's Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Nineteen candidates contested the bypoll, which recorded a voter turnout of 54.70 per cent. The turnout was well below the 63.04 per cent recorded in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Shirom Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal said his party "accept the mandate with humility".
"We thank the voters of #Jalandhar and accept the mandate with humility in the true democratic traditions of our party. We congratulate the winner Sushil Kumar Rinku & @AamAadmiParty and hope that they will live up to the voters' expectations," Badal tweeted.
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