Jalandhar West bypoll becomes a battle of prestige for AAP, Bhagwant Mann himself takes charge

Buoyed by its Lok Sabha defeat in Punjab, the AAP, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, is leaving no stone unturned to win the Jalandhar (West) bypoll scheduled for July 10. Along with Bhagwant, the AAP has turned the bypoll into a battle of prestige. Mann has been camping in Jalandhar for the past few weeks. He has also rented a house in the city to ensure the victory of AAP candidate Mohinder Bhagat. Almost the entire cabinet and every MLA of the party is campaigning in this constituency to boost the morale of the cadre who were disappointed after the Lok Sabha results. Despite claiming to win all the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab, the AAP emerged victorious on just three seats. The Congress won seven seats, while the Shiromani Akali Dal got one seat. Two seats were won by independents. The Jalandhar (West) bypoll was announced after AAP MLA Sheetal Angural from this constituency resigned and joined the BJP. Mann is handling the campaign of AAP’s Mohinder Bhagat. He is conducting road shows and meetings with the public and industrialists to secure the seat. He has even said that he will stay in Jalandhar for three more days after polling to ensure that people of Majha and Doaba region do not have to go to Chandigarh for their problems. Congress has fielded five-time councillor Surinder Kaur. For the party, state chief Amarinder Singh Raja Waring and Leader of Opposition Pratap Bajwa have led the campaign.