Punjab Cong chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring concedes defeat in Jalandhar LS bypoll

Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring conceded defeat in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll on Saturday and congratulated the Aam Aadmi Party and its candidate Sushil Rinku.

As per the latest trends available on the Election Commission website, Rinku was leading by a margin of 58,430 votes over his nearest rival and Congress candidate Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary. The result is yet to be declared by the EC.

"We humbly accept people's mandate! I thank party workers, volunteers, supporters and the entire @INCPunjab leadership, for the hard work & efforts put in by them for the #JalandharByElection. I congratulate Sushil Rinku & AAP party for the victory," Warring tweeted.

The bypoll, voting for which was held on May 10, was necessitated following the death of Karamjit Kaur's husband and Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary in January. Counting of votes began at 8 am.

AAP's Rinku has been consistently maintaining a lead over his nearest opponent since the beginning of the counting of votes.

Nineteen candidates had contested the bypoll, which recorded a voter turnout of 54.70 per cent. It was well below the 63.04 per cent polling recorded in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.