Hours after losing bypoll, Bharat Bhushan Ashu resigns as Punjab Congress working president

Ludhiana: Punjab Congress working president Bharat Bhushan Ashu, who lost the bypoll to the Ludhiana West assembly seat, on Monday resigned from the post.

Speaking to reporters, Ashu said he has tendered his resignation while taking moral responsibility for the electoral defeat in the by-election.

Punjab's ruling AAP retained the seat with its candidate Sanjeev Arora defeating his nearest rival Ashu by a margin of 10,637 votes.

Arora polled 35,179 votes while Ashu secured 24,542 votes, according to the Election Commission data on Monday.

BJP's Jiwan Gupta polled 20,323 votes while Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) nominee Parupkar Singh Ghuman got 8,203 votes.

The bypoll was necessitated following the death of AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi in January.

The bypoll result came as a setback for the Congress, which was eyeing to regain its foothold over the urban constituency that it held six times in the past.

Ashu had been MLA twice from this seat in 2012 and 2017.