AAP names 40 sitting MLAs in first Punjab list; Bhagwant Mann to contest again from Dhuri

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has released its first list of candidates for the 2027 Punjab Assembly election. The list has 40 names, and the party has given all 40 tickets to its sitting MLAs.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann will contest from the Dhuri Assembly seat again. There had been talk for some time about a change of seat for him, but the party has named him from Dhuri. In the 2022 Assembly election, Mann won the seat by defeating Congress candidate Dalveer Singh Goldy by a margin of 58,206 votes. The party has now given him the ticket from the same seat for the coming election.

The list also includes Sanjeev Arora, a minister who is currently in jail. The party has named him from the Ludhiana West Assembly seat, which he will contest again. Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal has got the ticket from Ajnala, Harmeet Singh Sandhu has been named from Tarn Taran and Kulwant Singh from SAS Nagar.

The Punjab Assembly has 117 seats, and the state goes to the polls in 2027. The AAP is currently in power in the state and is preparing to form the government again. By giving all sitting MLAs another chance in the first list, the party has shown its trust in them.

Chief Minister Mann said the party's Political Affairs Committee (PAC) met today and discussed the tickets for the Punjab Assembly election in detail. According to Mann, the names of candidates who have received good support in public opinion surveys have been approved. With this, tickets for 40 candidates have been finalised.

Mann congratulated all the candidates. He expressed hope that all of them would win the election once again. The names of candidates for the remaining seats are not part of this first list.