AAP ANNOUNCES 40 CANDIDATES FOR 2027 PUNJAB ELECTIONS; BHAGWANT MANN TO CONTEST AGAIN FROM DHURI

October 31, 2026

CHANDIGARH, OCTOBER 31: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has announced its first list of 40 candidates for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections, naming Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann as its candidate from the Dhuri constituency, where he will seek re-election.

The announcement was made on Saturday following a meeting of the party's Political Affairs Committee (PAC) in New Delhi. The list includes 40 sitting legislators, indicating the party's decision to retain a substantial number of its existing MLAs for the forthcoming electoral contest.

Among the prominent candidates, Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan has been nominated from Kotkapura, while Cabinet minister Sanjeev Arora has been fielded from Ludhiana West despite currently being in judicial custody in connection with an Enforcement Directorate money-laundering investigation. Former ministers Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal and Balkar Singh have also been nominated from Ajnala and Kartarpur respectively.

Other candidates include Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar from Amritsar South, Kulwant Singh from SAS Nagar, Bram Shanker Sharma (Jimpa) from Hoshiarpur, Harmeet Singh Sandhu from Tarn Taran and Amansher Singh (Shery Kalsi) from Batala. The list also includes four women candidates and seven candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste communities.

The party's first list covers constituencies across Punjab's Malwa, Majha and Doaba regions. However, several prominent leaders, including Punjab AAP president Aman Arora and Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, have not appeared in this initial announcement.

The early declaration of candidates comes several months before the scheduled Assembly elections, expected to take place in February–March 2027. The current 117-member Punjab Assembly completes its five-year term on March 16, 2027.

AAP won 92 of the 117 Assembly seats in the 2022 elections, forming the state government with Bhagwant Mann as Chief Minister. The party will now seek another electoral mandate while preparing its organisation and candidates for the next Assembly contest.

The announcement of 40 candidates marks the beginning of AAP's formal electoral preparations in Punjab, with further candidate declarations expected as the election approaches.