Counting for Ludhiana West assembly bypoll today; AAP, Cong wait in bated breath

LUDHIANA: The counting of votes for the Ludhiana West assembly bypoll will be taken up on Monday after a fierce electoral fight that Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann described as a battle between “humility” and “arrogance”.

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The June 19 bypoll has been regarded as a litmus test for the ruling AAP as it seeks to maintain its hold over Punjab, while the Congress looks to regain its foothold over the urban constituency which it held six times in the past.

The Aam Aadmi Party field-ed Sanjeev Arora (61), a Rajya Sabha member and Ludhiana-based industrialist who is also known for his social welfare work, for the bypoll. On the other hand, the opposition Congress placed its bet on for-mer minister and Punjab Congress working president Bharat Bhushan Ashu (51).

The BJP field senior leader Jiwan Gupta, a member of the core committee of the party's Punjab unit, while the SAD named Parupkar Singh Ghuman, a lawyer and the for-mer president of Ludhiana Bar Association, as its candi-date.

While the main contest is between the AAP and Congress, the bypoll outcome will also shed light on how the BJP performs among urban voters in Punjab. It is also going to be a test of the leader-