JALANDHAR: On Saturday, the by-election for the Lok Sabha in Jalandhar officially started. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is in the lead from the seat, as per early data from the Election Commission of India (ECI).

From the seat in Jalandhar, the current AAP government in Punjab has nominated Sushil Rinku. In contrast, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) fielded Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi, Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal, and Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary for the Congress.

In and around the counting centres set up at the Director Land Records and Sports College Complex office on Kapurthala Road, a strict security setup has been put in place.

On May 10, by-elections were conducted in Jalandhar. A 54.70% voter turnout was observed. It was significantly lower than the 63.04% saw in the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.

By winning the byelection, the ruling AAP hopes to announce its election to the Lok Sabha. A victory will be encouraging for the party, which suffered a crushing defeat in the Sangrur Lok Sabha byelection barely three months after sweeping to power in Punjab in March 2022.

The Bhagwant Mann-led government has been promoting its initiatives to offer free electricity and jobs to young people, regularise the services of contract workers, take action against corruption, and open mohalla clinics, among others. The bypoll is also seen as a test of the government's performance over the past year.

On the other hand, the Congress wants to keep Jalandhar, which has been a longstanding stronghold for the party and where it hasn't lost an election since 1999.

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