Happy event for Cong, downfall for BJP: Punjab CM on Gurdaspur win

Chandigarh: After Congress' massive victory in the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha by-polls, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday said that the elections have revived the grand old party and marks the downfall of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"This is a happy occasion for us, and not only in Gurdaspur, but in Kerala as well. It is a very good sign emerging on the national scene," Singh said while addressing the media.

He added that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had 2.7% votes last time, but this time it seems they have collapsed.

Read: Punjab: Congress takes Gurdaspur from BJP, wins LS bypoll by 1,93,219 votes

Singh further said that the elections show an indication that times are changing.

"The impact of Goods and Services Tax (GST) is very major; traders are fed up, while the impact of demonetisation is still being felt," Singh asserted.

He added that this is the highest margin in Gurdaspur since the elections started in 1950.

The Congress Party registered a massive victory in the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha by-polls, as party candidate Sunil Jakhar won by a margin of 1,93,219 votes .

The six-month-old government of Congress passed a litmus test by winning the election by such a huge margin.

While the Congress garnered 4, 99,752 votes, the BJP was relegated to 3, 06,533 votes. AAP fared even worse as it amassed a mere 23,579 votes.

Congress had fielded veteran leader Sunil Jakhar to contest the by-elections against the BJP-SAD alliance candidate, businessman Swaran Salaria and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate, Retired Major General Suresh Khajuria.

The Gurdaspur parliamentary seat has nine assembly segments -- Bhoa, Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Dinanagar, Qadian, Fathegarh Churian, Dera Baba Nanak, Sujanpur, and Batala.

The Lok Sabha by-elections, held on October 11, were necessitated after the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat fell vacant following the death of BJP MP Vinod Khanna.

Khanna represented the constituency from 1998 to 2004, and later from 2004 until his death in April this year.