AAP WINS TWO SEATS, BJP, CONG ONE EACH IN BYPOLLS

Fillip to beleaguered AAP, setback to Cong in Gujarat; TMC maintains its hold

- AGENCIES

The ruling BJP in Gujarat on Monday retained the Kadi seat while AAP's Gopal Italia won from Visavadar assembly constituency in the bypolls held last week.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also retained Punjab's Ludhiana West seat.

The Congress-led UDF wrested Nilambur from the ruling LDF in Kerala and the Trinamool Congress maintained its hold on the Kaliganj assembly seat in West Bengal's Nadia district.

The bypolls in the five constituencies were held on June 19.

Italia, the former president of the Gujarat unit of AAP, defeated his nearest rival BJP candidate Kirit Patel in Visavadar seat of Junagadh district by a margin of 17,554 votes, according to data shared by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Despite its near-total dominance in the state, the BJP has not won the Visavadar seat since 2007. The seat fell vacant in December 2023 after the then AAP legislator Bhupendra Bhayani resigned and joined the ruling BJP.

Punjab's ruling AAP retained the Ludhiana West Assembly seat with its candidate Sanjeev Arora defeating his nearest rival and Congress candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu by a margin of 10,637 votes.