Chandigarh, June 24 -- The Aam Aadmi Party's victory in the keenly contested Ludhiana West assembly byelection is a significant boost for the party leadership and government in the state ahead of the 2027 general assembly elections. The AAP won the seat with a margin of 10,637 votes, larger than its winning margin in the 2022 assembly elections, in a four-cornered contest. However, the fight was more intense than the victory margin suggests. The ruling party, the first to name Rajya Sabha member Sanjeev Arora as its candidate and launch the campaign, had gone all-out, turning the byelection into a battle of prestige by parading its political bigwigs and deploying all available resources. While AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal and chief minister Bhagwant Mann led the campaign, Punjab affairs in-charge Manish Sisodia supervised the efforts, with most ministers and other party leaders also being assigned duties. After the victory, AAP leaders were quick to portray the bypoll as a "semi-final" before the "final battle" - the general assembly elections - in 2027, calling the results a "powerful endorsement" of the party's policies and leadership and its government's development works in the state. Arora is now set to resign from the Rajya Sabha, creating a casual vacancy in the Upper House from Punjab. With the AAP having an overwhelming majority in the 117-strong state assembly, all eyes will now be on whom the AAP nominates for the Upper House. Speculation has been rife in political circles from the time Arora was named the party's candidate for the Jalandhar West assembly by-election about AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, who lost his assembly seat in Delhi, being sent to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab. With Monday's morale-boosting results, the AAP has continued its winning run in the assembly byelections, building on its historic triumph in 2022. Of the six assembly byelections held since March 2022, the party won five - Jalandhar West, Dera Baba Nanak, Gidderbaha, Chabbewal and Ludhiana West. However, it lost the Barnala seat to the Congress in November last year. The AAP's tally in the state assembly now stands at 94 seats. AAP's leader and Punjab affairs in-charge Manish Sisodia on Monday congratulated party candidate Sanjeev Arora as well as AAP leaders and workers for the byelection victory in Ludhiana West assembly constituency. He said that the opposition was calling the Ludhiana by-election a semi-final. "The AAP has won the semi-final, and now, under the leadership of Bhagwant Mann Ji, we will win the final as well. This victory is a triumph of AAP's politics of work," he said. AAP Punjab president Aman Arora also congratulated to the party leaders and workers on their remarkable victory, attributing this success to their dedication and tireless efforts. Commending Arora on his victory, the AAP state chief expressed confidence in his ability to drive Ludhiana West's development forward and prioritize the completion of all pending projects in the area. Cabinet minister Harpal Singh Cheema stated that the byelection results reflect the growing trust of Punjab's urban voters in the party. Chief minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP state president Aman Arora will lead a roadshow in Ludhiana West on Tuesday to thank the people of the assembly constituency for supporting the party candidate, Sanjeev Arora. They will be accompanied by Arora and other party MLAs from the district....