AAP’s First List for Punjab 2027: Bhagwant Mann to Contest from Dhuri, Jailed Sanjeev Arora Renominated | Political Pulse News
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann will contest the 2027 Assembly elections from his Dhuri constituency, putting to rest speculation that he could shift to another seat. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday announced its first list of 40 candidates, renominating all sitting MLAs named in the list.
The list was announced by AAP National Secretary Pankaj Kumar Gupta following a meeting of the party’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC) in Delhi.
Among the prominent candidates is Cabinet minister Sanjeev Arora, who has been renominated from Ludhiana West despite being in jail in connection with an Enforcement Directorate (ED) money laundering case. Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan has also been renominated from Kotkapura.
The list is heavily weighted towards the Malwa region, which accounts for 27 of the 40 candidates announced by the party. Malwa has 69 of Punjab’s 117 Assembly seats, while Majha and Doaba have 25 and 23 seats, respectively. The party has named five candidates from Majha and eight from Doaba, against 27 from Malwa, reflecting the dominance of the region in its first list.
Malwa, particularly the districts of Sangrur, Barnala and Mansa, is considered the epicentre of the AAP’s political rise in Punjab. However, the party is yet to announce candidates from several constituencies in these districts in its first list of 40 candidates, despite the region accounting for a major share of its Assembly strength.
The list includes four women candidates — Inderjit Kaur Mann (Nakodar), Santosh Kataria (Balachaur), Baljinder Kaur (Talwandi Sabo) and Dr Amandeep Kaur Arora (Moga), who heads the AAP’s Punjab women’s wing. The party has also fielded seven Scheduled Caste candidates.
Four former ministers — Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal (Ajnala), Bram Shanker Sharma (Jimpa) (Hoshiarpur), Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar (Amritsar South) and Balkar Singh (Kartarpur) — have also been fielded.
AAP Punjab president Aman Arora is missing from the first list, while working president Amansher Singh has been nominated from Batala. Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema and other Cabinet ministers have also not figured in the list. None of the halqa incharges, appointed by the AAP in over 20 constituencies have been nominated so far.
The AAP has 94 MLAs in the 117-member Punjab Assembly and appears to have relied on its assessment that these legislators were not facing significant anti-incumbency. The party has, however, dropped four ministers from the Cabinet during its tenure.
One of the prominent names among those dropped is Balkar Singh, a former Punjab Police DSP, who was removed from the Cabinet after an objectionable video, purportedly featuring him, surfaced. He has now been renominated from his Kartarpur constituency.
On Friday, Mann had said that candidate selection would be based on performance and public surveys.
The list includes Amansher Singh (Shery Kalsi) from Batala, Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal from Ajnala, Dr. Inderbir Singh Nijjar from Amritsar South, Harmeet Singh Sandhu from Tarn Taran, Sarvan Singh Dhun from Khem Karan, Inderjit Kaur Mann from Nakodar, Balkar Singh from Kartarpur, Karambir Singh Ghuman from Dasuya, Jasvir Singh Raja Gill from Urmar, Bram Shanker Sharma (Jimpa) from Hoshiarpur, Ishank Kumar Chabbewal from Chabbewal, Jai Krishan Singh Rouri from Garhshankar, Santosh Kataria from Balachaur and Dinesh Chadha from Rupnagar.
It also comprises Kulwant Singh from SAS Nagar, Lakhbir Singh Rai from Fatehgarh Sahib, Gurinder Singh Garry Waring from Amloh, Jagtar Singh Diyalpura from Samrala, Daljit Singh Grewal (Bhola) from Ludhiana East, Kulwant Singh Sidhu from Atam Nagar, Ashok Prashar (Pappi) from Ludhiana Central, Sanjeev Arora from Ludhiana West, Chaudhary Madan Lal Bagga from Ludhiana North, Manwinder Singh Giaspura from Payal, Manjit Singh Bilaspur from Nihal Singh Wala, Amritpal Singh Sukhanand from Bhagha Purana, Dr. Amandeep Kaur Arora from Moga and Devinder Jeet Singh Laddi Dhos from Dharamkot.
The remaining names are Jagdeep Kamboj (Goldy) from Jalalabad, Narinderpal Singh Sawna from Fazilka, Jagdeep Singh Kaka Brar from Muktsar, Kultar Singh Sandhwan from Kotkapura, Amolak Singh from Jaitu, Baljinder Kaur from Talwandi Sabo, Gurpreet Singh Banawali from Sardulgarh, Labh Singh Ugoke from Bhadaur, Kulwant Singh Pandori from Mehal Kalan, Jaswant Singh Gajjan Majra from Amargarh, Bhagwant Mann from Dhuri and Ajitpal Singh Kohli from Patiala.
An AAP leader said the party had opted for safe seats. “The surveys also favoured them,” the leader said.
