AAP Names 40 Punjab Candidates in First List; Mann Returns to Dhuri, Jailed Minister Arora Gets Ludhiana West

The Aam Aadmi Party has become the first major party to name candidates for Punjab's 2027 Assembly election. On Saturday it released a list of 40 names for the 117-seat house, with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann set to defend Dhuri, the seat he won in 2022.

The list was finalised at a meeting of AAP's Political Affairs Committee at national convenor Arvind Kejriwal's residence in Delhi. Mann, Punjab in-charge Manish Sisodia and Finance Minister Harpal Cheema attended, along with other committee members. Kejriwal and Sisodia both congratulated the candidates on X, and Sisodia urged them to go door to door and take up local grievances.

Incumbents first

The first list leans heavily on people already in power. Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan has been renominated from Kotkapura. Several ministers are also on it: Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal (Ajnala), Balkar Singh (Kartarpur), Jai Krishan Singh Rouri (Garhshankar), Kulwant Singh (SAS Nagar) and Labh Singh Ugoke (Bhadaur).

Other sitting legislators include Inderbir Singh Nijjar, a former cabinet minister, in Amritsar South, and Bram Shanker Sharma Jimpa in Hoshiarpur. AAP Punjab co-convener Aman Sher Singh, known as Shery Kalsi, will contest Batala. Harmeet Singh Sandhu has been fielded from Tarn Taran and Daljit Singh Grewal, known as Bhola, from Ludhiana East.

The two names that stand out

The most notable choice is Sanjeev Arora, the minister AAP has fielded from Ludhiana West even though he is currently in jail. By naming him months before the vote, the party is signalling that it stands by him. Opposition parties are likely to keep that ticket in the spotlight through the campaign.

The second talking point is who is missing. Finance Minister Harpal Cheema, one of the government's most senior faces, is not on the first list even though he was at the meeting that approved it. Since AAP has not yet named candidates for the other 77 seats, his absence does not mean he has been dropped.

Why name candidates this early

Punjab's Assembly term ends on March 16, 2027, and polling is expected around February or March. Releasing a third of its candidates roughly four months ahead gives AAP's nominees a head start on campaigning and lets the party settle disputes over tickets early. It also lets AAP set the agenda before the Congress, the Shiromani Akali Dal and the BJP announce their own lineups.

The party has a large majority to defend. In 2022, AAP won 92 of Punjab's 117 seats, sweeping aside the established parties, while the Congress finished a distant second with 18. Holding on to most of those seats will be a key test of the Mann government's record, and of AAP's standing beyond Delhi.

The Election Commission has also started preparing. Earlier this week, a senior ECI team reviewed poll readiness with all 23 district election officers in Punjab, as well as police commissioners and senior superintendents of police.

AAP is expected to name the remaining 77 candidates in later lists.

This is an original summary based on public reporting. See our editorial policy for how we source, write, and correct our stories.