The ruling Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab retained the Amritsar South assembly seat, the by-election for which was held on May 22.
   
SAD candidate Inderbir Singh Bolaria trounced his nearest rival Congress candidate Navdeep Singh Goldy by a margin of 22, 233 votes.
    
In the four-cornered contest, Bolaria polled 43,495 votes against Goldy's 21,262. SAD-Amritsar nominee Ram Singh and Sharanjit Singh, an independent, secured 1,161 and 363 votes respectively.
    
The by-election was necessitated due to the death of  the sitting legislator, Raminder Singh Bolaria, father of victorious candidate Inderbir Singh Bolaria.
    
With this win, the SAD's tally in the 117-member assembly has risen to 49. The SAD's coalition partner the Bharatiya Janata Party has 19 seats and the Opposition Congress has 44 in the assembly.