Ludhiana West assembly bypoll: Setback for Congress, internal strife fuels Ashu's defeat
Despite an aggressive campaign, Ashu secured only 24,542 votes — a 27.22% share — down from 28.06% in the 2022 assembly elections, where he had garnered around 32,000 votes. This marks a noticeable erosion of the party's support in the region.
The absence of key party leaders, including Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, from the campaign trail further compounded Ashu's loss. Both leaders were noticeably absent from crucial events, with Warring's exclusion being particularly significant. This internal division within the party appears to have severely hampered Ashu's chances of victory.
While former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, along with senior leaders Rana Gurjeet Singh and Pargat Singh, took charge of the campaign, the exclusion of Warring and Bajwa left the party fractured. Their absence from key campaigning activities, including Ashu's roadshow, highlighted the ongoing rift within the state leadership and weakened the party's position in a highly competitive by-poll.
Blow to Channi camp
The loss is seen as a blow to the faction led by Channi, who had hoped a victory would help regain momentum and challenge Warring's leadership as the state Congress chief. Despite his efforts, Congress could not close the gap with AAP, which emerged victorious by a larger margin than in the 2022 elections.
Implications for party leadership
In the aftermath of the defeat, Ashu took moral responsibility and resigned from his post as Working President of PPCC. However, rival factions within Congress argue that the blame cannot be placed solely on Ashu's shoulders. They point out that the exclusion of senior leaders, particularly from the Hindu and Dalit communities, contributed to the party's failure to connect with its core voter base.
'There's no denying the deep divisions within the party. What's concerning is that the BJP is making inroads into our traditional Hindu vote bank,' said a senior Congress leader from the Hindu community.
'The overrepresentation of Jat Sikh leaders has created resentment, and this is benefiting the BJP. We need a Hindu face as the state Congress president to restore faith among our core supporters.'
Rift likely to deepen
The rift within the Congress is expected to widen in the coming days, with Raja Warring's faction preparing to escalate the issue of their exclusion from the campaign. People familiar with the matter said that Warring has already flagged this matter with the party high command.
Meanwhile, the Channi-led faction is likely to push for greater influence within the PPCC and key positions ahead of the 2027 Punjab assembly elections.
AAP misused official machinery: Warring
Reacting to the bypoll result, state Congress chief Raja Warring said there was nothing special about the ruling AAP winning the Ludhiana West byelection as it has used all the official machinery for the purpose.
Talking to reporters, Warring said the party will do a serious introspection about the result. Earlier, in his message to the party workers, Warring said: 'I acknowledge and appreciate the Congress workers in Ludhiana West for putting up the best fight against all odds when it was against the entire government machinery'.
Asserting that there was no big deal about the result, he said: 'This, after all, was just a byelection. Our fight will continue and we will take it to the logical conclusion in 2027.'
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