Punjab: Congress bags Akali bastion & two-thirds majority

The ruling Congress on Thursday wrested the Shahkot Assembly seat by handing out a crushing defeat to the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) with party candidate Hardev Singh Ladi trouncing rival SAD's Naib Singh Kohar by 38,802 votes.

With this resounding victory, the Congress's strength in the 117-member Punjab Vidhan Sabha will reach 78, a two-thirds majority.

Ladi got 82,747 votes to Akali candidate Naib Singh Kohar's 43,945, an official spokesman of the election office said, reports PTI.

Shahkot was considered an Akali Dal pocket-borough from where late Ajit Singh Kohar was elected five-times in a row.

The performance of the main opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Shahkot bypoll was dismal as its candidate Rattan Singh Kakkar Kalan secured just 1,900 votes.

The bypoll was necessitated by the death of Ajit Singh Kohar, Naib Singh Kohar's father, in February this year.

The contest was being seen as a test of the popularity of the 14-month-old Congress government in the state. Punjab CM Amarinder Singh hailed the victory as a "vindication of the government's people-centric policies".

"People of #Shahkot have given a massive thumbs up to @INCPunjab govt's development policies. @Akali_Dal_ never worked for Shahkot even though the people gave them many opportunities. @AAPPunjab decimation will be complete with this humiliating defeat (sic)," Amarinder Singh tweeted.

With Congress wresting the Akali bastion, the party's the winning momentum after putting up a stellar performance in the 2017 Punjab assembly elections and Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll continues.