AAP Triumphs in Punjab and Gujarat Bypolls Revive Arvind Kejriwal
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AAP Secures Decisive Victories in Punjab and Gujarat Bypolls, Signals Growing Influence
By MANISH ANAND
NEW DELHI, June 23, 2025 – In a major morale booster, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) triumphed in two key electoral battles, which gained national curiosity. The AAP won the Ludhiana West seat Assembly bypolls in Punjab and also the Visavadar seat in Gujarat.
“The AAP won against the combined might of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress. At both the seats, the Congress had been working for the victory of the BJP,” said former Delhi Chief Minister and the AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal in a press conference.
The AAP victory in Ludhiana West seat gave a major boost to the party, which recently lost Delhi elections to the BJP. Punjab will brace up for the Assembly elections in 2027. The Punjab bypoll victory was sweeter for the AAP amid claims that intra-party infighting may work against Sanjeev Arora, a Rajya Sabha MP.
The AAP had announced that Arora would be made a minister in Punjab. The AAP victory in Punjab bypolls may pave way for Kejriwal to enter the Rajya Sabha soon. The victory gained more significance for the fact that the AAP had fared poorly in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The Congress had led in four Assembly seats and BJP in five, including Ludhiana West, where BJP had an edge. But the AAP won the bypolls from the Ludhiana West seat with over 10,000 votes. The bypoll verdict rejected claims of a section of political observers who believed that the AAP could struggle amid the BJP gaining strength in the constituency. But the verdict showed that the BJP remains a marginal player in the Punjab politics.
Kejriwal hailed the results as a “semi-final” for future contests. His suggestion was about the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections. With the BJP yet to establish footprints and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) struggling, the AAP is now building an anti-Congress outfit. Kejriwal led the charge, claiming that the “Congress helped the BJP win the Delhi elections earlier.”
Punjab’s Ludhiana West showed that the AAP has to face the Congress as the key rival in the state. The Congress nominee Bharat Bhushan Ashu came second, as he polled 24,542 votes. The BJP came third, with the party nominee Jiwan Gupta polling 20,323 votes. The SAD was a distant fourth, polling just 8,203 votes.
The AAP victory from Gujarat’s Visavadar constituency came as a major morale booster for the party. AAP’s former state president Gopal Italia delivered a stunning upset, defeating BJP’s Kirit Patel by 17,554 votes. Italia secured 75,942 votes, while Patel polled 58,388. Congress’ Nitin Ranpariya could bag just 5,501 votes. The victory was grand for the AAP, as it defeated the BJP’s established Gujarat script to engineer defections from rival parties. Former AAP MLA Bhupendra Bhayani from here had joined the BJP in 2023. This necessitated the bypolls.
The BJP, however, retained the Kadi seat in Gujarat, with Rajendra Chavda winning by 39,452 votes. Elsewhere, Congress wrested the Nilambur seat in Kerala from the Left Democratic Front, with Aryadan Shoukath defeating CPI(M)’s M Swaraj by 11,077 votes. The verdict is seen an affirmation of anti-incumbency against the Pinarayi Vijayan government in Kerala.
In West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress retained Kaliganj with Alifa Ahmed winning by a landslide 50,049 votes. The bypolls were held on June 19 across five constituencies in four states.
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