New Delhi: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday said he humbly accepted the verdict of the people in the Sangrur Lok Sabha bypoll where the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) suffered a defeat. Mann underlined that he will continue to work harder for progress and prosperity of Punjab.


“I humbly accept the verdict given by people of Sangrur. I am working day and night with honesty for the progress and prosperity of Punjab and will continue to work harder…I am your son and will spare no effort to brighten the future of your families,” he tweeted.



Meanwhile, AAP leader Malvinder Singh Kang said the low voter turnout was a major reason behind the defeat of the party’s candidate in the by-election, Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.


Kang, who is the chief spokesperson of AAP’s Punjab unit, congratulated Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) leader Simranjit Singh Mann on his victory.


ALSO READ: Punjab: Setback To AAP As SAD-Amritsar’s Simranjit Mann Wins Sangrur Bypolls


Kang said the AAP is taking the verdict of the Sangrur by-election very seriously and will go into details of it.


“We will learn from this election and will work more industriously for the welfare of people. We will come back strongly,” he said.


The AAP leader cited the low turnout in the bypoll as a major reason for his party’s defeat.


Kang said the AAP's vote share in the by-election reduced only by 2 percent compared to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.


“AAP got 34.65 percent of the votes, while the BJP got only 9 percent, Congress 11 percent and the Akali Dal 6 percent total share of votes in this polling. The Congress' vote share was 27 percent in the 2019 Lok Sabha, Shiromani Akali Dal had got 24 percent of the votes in 2019, which indicates that the public is no longer with the traditional parties,” Kang said claimed.


“While Shiromani Akali Dal, Congress and BJP candidates have even failed to secure their security deposits in the Sangrur by-election,” he added.


Senior AAP leader Raghav Chadha also accepted the verdict of the people and said that his party will work harder.


“We humbly accept Sangrur's verdict. We will certainly work harder." "While AAP retained its vote share with a meagre fall from 37 percent to 35 percent, all other parties INC, SAD & BJP lost deposits! Vote share: SAD from 24 percent to 6 percent, INC from 27 percent to 11 percent. Others loss became Simranjit Mann's gain,” Chadha tweeted.



Simranjit Singh Mann defeated AAP candidate Gurmail Singh by a margin of over 5,800 votes. As per official figures, Simranjit Singh Mann polled 2,53,154 votes, while Gurmail Singh secured 2,47,332 votes.


This comes as a major setback to the AAP government in Punjab as Sangrur is the home turf of Chief Minister Mann.