AAP announced 40 candidates for the 2027 Punjab Assembly election, all sitting MLAs.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann will seek re-election from Dhuri; Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan will contest from Kotkapura.
The list includes jailed minister Sanjeev Arora from Ludhiana West, with AAP saying it stands by him.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday announced its first list of 40 candidates for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections, naming Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to contest from Dhuri.
Mann said the party finalised the names at a meeting of its Political Affairs Committee (PAC). The list features sitting MLAs, with no new faces among the 40 candidates announced so far. Three MLAs will be seeking a third term, and the list includes women candidates.
Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan will contest from Kotkapura. The party has also fielded ministers Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal from Ajnala, Balkar Singh from Kartarpur, Jai Krishan Singh Rouri from Garhshankar, Kulwant Singh from SAS Nagar and Labh Singh Ugoke from Bhadaur.
Other candidates named include Amandeep Kaur Arora from Moga; Amansher Singh, also known as Shery Kalsi, from Batala; Inderbir Singh Nijjar from Amritsar South; Harmeet Singh Sandhu from Tarn Taran; Sarvan Singh Dhun from Khem Karan; Inderjit Kaur Mann from Nakodar; Karambir Singh Ghuman from Dasuya; and Jasvir Singh Raja Gill from Urmar.
AAP has also nominated jailed minister Sanjeev Arora from Ludhiana West. Defending the decision, Delhi AAP president Saurabh Bhardwaj said the party stood by Arora and his family.
“Sanjeev Arora is a strong party worker who was doing excellent work, and the Central government has sent him to jail to stop the government’s work,” Bhardwaj said. He added that if Arora remained in jail, people in Ludhiana would campaign for him.
“After a detailed discussion during our party’s Political Affairs Committee meeting, we have finalised 40 names for 40 constituencies in Punjab who will be candidates in the elections,” Bhardwaj said.
The 117-member Punjab Assembly’s term ends on March 16, 2027, with polling expected in February or March. In the 2022 Assembly election, AAP won 92 seats and the Congress secured 18.
