23 June 2025: The fate of 14 candidates contesting the Ludhiana West Assembly bypoll will be determined on Monday, as the counting of votes commences at 8 am at Khalsa College for Women (KCW) in Ludhiana’s Ghumar Mandi. There will be 14 rounds of counting before the result is announced, it is learnt.
The bypoll, for which voting was held on 19 June, saw a low turnout of 51.33 per cent — a sharp drop from the 64 per cent registered in the 2022 Assembly polls— with around 90,000 voters, out of the total of 1.74 lakh registered, exercising their franchise in this urban constituency, which comprises Ludhiana City and surrounding areas.
Even as the politicking for this bypoll began as early as March, when the date of the by-election had not yet been officially announced, the low polling percentage has been attributed to the “hot weather, extended period campaign and mudslinging among candidates.”
On Sunday, General Observer Rajeev Kumar and District Election Officer Himanshu Jain examined the arrangements at KCW to ensure a smooth counting process.
They inspected the examination hall, which was set up with 14 tables for counting votes as well as two additional tables designated for postal ballots and votes from the Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS).
A foolproof security arrangement has been put in place at the Khalsa College for Women which will serve as the counting centre, an official said on Sunday.
The bypoll was necessitated after AAP Ludhiana West MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi died of a “self-inflicted bullet injury” earlier this year.
The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is confident of a victory in Ludhiana, riding on its “development and pro-people policies” implemented in the past three years of its reign. Opposition parties, the BJP, the Congress and the SAD, on the other hand, see a “wind of badlaav (change)” for 2027 that will sweep Ludhiana West and “AAP will be thrown out by the people”.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had described the election as a battle between “humility” and “arrogance” while highlighting that Arora represents “simplicity” while the Congress nominee is known for “arrogance.”
The AAP drew criticism after fielding its Rajya Sabha member, industrialist Sanjeev Arora, in the bypoll. Opposition parties alleged that the Punjab ruling party was doing it to send party national convener Arvind Kejriwal to the Rajya Sabha in his place — if Arora wins. Hence, they alleged that Arora’s candidature in the bypoll was “just to ensure Kejriwal’s entry to the Upper House of Parliament” after his government lost the Delhi Assembly elections — even Kejriwal lost his seat.
Kejriwal had hit the ground running in Ludhiana to campaign for Arora as early as March, even when the bypoll had not been announced.
The BJP has been trying to make its presence felt in Punja since parting ways with the former ally SAD and sees the Ludhiana West by-election, an urban constituency, as a stepping stone riding on its 2024 Lok Sabha elections performance in Ludhiana — the party received the highest voting percentage in the West segment, even as Ravneet Singh Bittu lost the seat to Congress’s Amrinder Singh Raja Warring.
This time, the party fielded a relatively lesser-known but local face Jiwan Gupta.
Congress candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu, a former minister, is hoping to stage a comeback after losing to AAP’s Gogi in 2022. Ashu was arrested in an alleged corruption case after the AAP came to power and spent over a year in jail. However, the court quashed FIRs against him. The ruling AAP targeted him for his alleged arrogance and short temper.
The SAD has fielded advocate Parupkar Singh Ghumman, known for fighting cases for underprivileged people pro bono. The grand old party has been facing an existential crisis since it lost in the 2017 Punjab Assembly elections.
The party hopes to find its footing again on Punjab’s political landscape. It is also going to be a test of the leadership of SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal as his party looks to resurrect itself after a series of crushing electoral losses.
However, whether this keenly watched four-cornered political battle serves as the precursor to the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections remains a larger question.
In the 117-member Punjab assembly, the AAP has 94 legislators, the Congress has 16 MLAs, the Shiromani Akali Dal has three, the BJP has two, and the Bahujan Samaj Party has one. One seat is held by an Independent.
Summary: Vote counting began at 8 am today at Khalsa College for Women across 14 rounds to determine which of the 14 candidates wins the Ludhiana West by-election.