Massive Lead for Congress Candidate Sunil Jakhar

Less than an hour to the results, and it's an early lead for Congress’ Punjab unit chief Sunil Jakhar in the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll. The counting of votes began at 8 am on Sunday. After the fifth round, Jakhar was leading in all nine Assembly segments by 1,08,203 votes over BJP’s Swaran Salaria.

The Sucha Singh Langah episode seemed to have damaged the BJP, particularly in Dera Baba Nanak where the former SAD minister remained halqa in charge for 10 years.

According to political observers, the Langah episode made a dent in Jat Sikh votes. This time, the Jat Sikh votes, which would have normally gone to the BJP, have gone to the Congress.

The bypoll, held on October 11, is being seen as a barometer for the popularity of the six-month-old Congress government in the state.The seat was contested by Congress’ Punjab unit chief Sunil Jakhar, BJP’s Swaran Salaria and AAP’s Major General Suresh Khajuria (retd).

It had fallen vacant following the demise of BJP MLA Vinod Khanna in April.

Meanwhile, BJP leaders started leaving the counting centres after Jakhar took an early lead. Aam Aadmi Party candidate Major Gen Khajuria may lose his security deposit. Khajuria left the counting centre midway through the counting.