Taran Tarn: The Aam Aadmi Party scored a strong victory in the Tarn Taran Assembly by-election, with party candidate Harmeet Singh Sandhu winning by a convincing margin. After 16 rounds of counting, Sandhu secured 42,649 votes, defeating Shiromani Akali Dal candidate Principal Sukhwinder Kaur Randhawa, who finished second with 30,558 votes. The seat saw a multi-cornered contest with 15 candidates in the fray.
The bypoll was necessitated by the death of AAP MLA Kashmir Singh Sohal, who passed away after battling cancer. Sohal had won the seat in 2022, defeating three-time SAD MLA Harmeet Singh Sandhu. This time, the by-election was viewed as a key political test ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections, making it a high-stakes contest for all major parties.
In a notable development, Waris Punjab De, the party associated with jailed Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh, made its electoral debut and secured an impressive third position. Its candidate, Mandeep Singh Khalsa, received 19,620 votes, outperforming both the Congress and the BJP. The Congress, despite an aggressive campaign and deployment of senior leaders, failed to meet expectations. The party’s candidate, Karanbir Singh Burj, finished fourth with 15,078 votes.
The BJP continued to face resistance from voters, largely attributed to the lingering anger from the farmers’ protest. BJP candidate Harjit Singh Sandhu secured only 6,239 votes, reflecting the party’s ongoing struggle to gain ground in Punjab. The results underscore AAP’s continued dominance in the region while signaling significant challenges for traditional parties as Punjab approaches the 2027 polls.
