Chandigarh, Oct 31 (PTI) The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) set off the blocks early by announcing its first list of candidates for the 2027 Punjab assembly elections on Saturday, renominating 40 sitting MLAs with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann again contesting from Dhuri.
Jailed Cabinet minister Sanjeev Arora has been fielded from the Ludhiana West seat. However, no name of any other Cabinet minister found mention in the first list of candidates.
AAP is the first major political party that declared its candidates for the polls due early next year.
After a meeting of the party's Political Affairs Committee (PAC), Mann announced the list in Delhi.
Mann, a first-time MLA and two-time MP, said the early announcement of candidates reflects the party's strong preparations, transparency and unwavering confidence in the work done by our government.
Arora is in jail in connection with an alleged Rs 100 crore GST fraud-linked money laundering case involving certain entities linked to him.
AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, in a post on X, extended his best wishes to all the candidates.
Punjab Assembly Speaker and two-time MLA Kultar Singh Sandhwan has been fielded from Kotkapura and the Deputy Speaker will fight from the Garhshankar assembly segment.
Four sitting women MLAs have been fielded from their respective constituencies -- Baljinder Kaur (Talwandi Sabo), Inderjit Kaur Mann (Nakodar), Santosh Kataria (Balachaur) and Amandeep Kaur Arora (Moga).
Three former ministers have also been fielded - Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, who is also the Punjab AAP's chief spokesperson, has been fielded from Ajnala, Inderbir Singh Nijjar (Amritsar South) and Bram Shanker Jimpa (Hoshiarpur).
"I congratulate all the candidates and call upon party 'karyakartas' to connect even more strongly with people at the grassroots. Let us continue our journey of progress towards a 'Rangla Punjab'," Mann said.
Elaborating on the decision to announce candidates a few months before the elections to the 117-member assembly, he said, "We are releasing the list three to four months before the elections so that candidates have sufficient time to reach out to people and take the work done by the government to them."
"The Congress remains worried until the last day about possible rebellion or someone contesting as an independent candidate. That is why the Congress does not announce its tickets until the last day. But the Aam Aadmi Party follows a different principle," he said.
Mann said that there was an extensive discussion about the tickets for the Punjab Assembly elections.
The party has given tickets to those candidates who received a positive response and were approved by the people in the public survey, he said.
"We hope that all 40 candidates will be elected again. New faces will also get an opportunity. The AAP itself is still a new party. It is only 12 to 13 years old. The AAP has no competition from anyone in these elections. We are absolutely certain of our victory," he asserted.
Punjab AAP working president Amansher Singh Sherry Kalsi will contest from Batala, Harmeet Singh Sandhu from Tarn Taran, Sarvan Singh Dhun from Khemkaran, Balkar Singh from Kartarpur and Karanbir Singh Ghuman from Dasyua.
Ishank Kumar Chabbewal, who is the son of Hoshiarpur MP Raj Kumar Chabbewal, will contest from the Chabbewal seat, Dinesh Chadha from Rupnagar, Kulwant Singh from Mohali, Lakhbir Singh Rai from Fatehgarh Sahib and Gurinder Singh Garry Warring from Amloh.
Jagtar Singh Diyalpura will fight from Samrala, Daljit Singh Grewal from Ludhiana East, Kulwant Singh Sidhu from Atam Nagar, Ashok Prashar Pappi from Ludhiana Central and Madan Lal Bagga from Ludhiana North.
Two-time MLA Manjit Singh Bilaspur will fight from Nihal Singh Wala, Manwinder Singh Giaspura from Payal, Amritpal Singh Sukhanand from Baghapurana, Devinderjit Singh Laddidhos from Dharamkot, Jagdeep Kamboj Goldy from Jalalabad and Narinderpal Singh Sawna from Fazilka seat.
Jagdeep Singh Kaka Brar has been fielded from Muktsar, Amolak Singh from Jaitu, Gurpreet Singh Banawali from Sardulgarh, Labh Singh Ugoke from Bhadaur, Jaswant Singh Gajjanmajra from Amargarh and Ajitpal Singh Kohli from Patiala.
(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)