Congress, Akalis bag one seat each in Punjab by-poll

The ruling Shiromani Akali Dal and the opposition Congress Monday won one seat each in the by-election to two assembly seats in Punjab. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) faced a rout on both seats.

Congress candidate and former union minister Preneet Kaur won the by-election on the Patiala assembly seat, defeating her rival Bhagwan Dass Juneja of the ruling Akali Dal by over 23,200 votes.

Preneet Kaur is the wife of former chief minister Amarinder Singh, who had quit the seat recently after being elected to the Lok Sabha from the Amritsar parliamentary constituency.

Akali Dal candidate Jeet Mohinder Singh won the Talwandi Sabo assembly seat in Punjab by over 46,600 votes. He defeated his nearest rival, Harminder Singh Jassi of the Congress.

Jeet Mohinder had quit the Congress earlier this year to join the Akali Dal. The Talwandi Sabo seat, located in Bathinda district of south-west Punjab, fell vacant as he resigned from there before joining the Akali Dal. He was elected on a Congress ticket from the same seat in the January 2012 assembly poll.

The Talwandi Sabo seat has come to the Akali Dal fold after 29 years. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which won the Patiala Lok Sabha seat May this year, lost its security deposit on the Patiala seat. The party candidate fared poorly in Talwandi Sabo also.

The AAP had won the Patiala seat May this year with its candidate Dharamvira Gandhi, a cardiologist, defeating three-time MP Preneet Kaur by over 20,000 votes.