The Aam Aadmi Party on 31 October announced its first 40 candidates for the Punjab assembly election due early next year, renominating sitting MLAs on all of them. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann will contest from Dhuri, and Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan from Kotkapura.
The list was finalised at a meeting of the party's Political Affairs Committee at the residence of Arvind Kejriwal, The Federal reported. Punjab has 117 seats, so 77 names remain. AAP won 92 seats in 2022 and the Congress 18. Mann said AAP was the first major party to declare candidates for this election, and that "new faces will also get an opportunity."
The jailed candidate
The name that drew the most attention is Sanjeev Arora, fielded from Ludhiana West while in custody. PTI described his case as an alleged Rs 100 crore GST fraud-linked money laundering case involving entities linked to him. ThePrint reported that the Enforcement Directorate arrested him in May and that he is lodged in a jail in Gurugram. The reports we read mention no court finding in the case, and we found no statement from Arora himself.
AAP has defended the choice. Manish Sisodia said "the BJP arrested him in a fake case," according to ThePrint. Delhi AAP chief Saurabh Bhardwaj said "the Central government has sent him to jail" and that the party stood by him and his family, Outlook reported.
Who else is on the list
Deputy Speaker Jai Krishan Singh Rouri is the candidate from Garhshankar. PTI named four women MLAs: Baljinder Kaur from Talwandi Sabo, Inderjit Kaur Mann from Nakodar, Santosh Kataria from Balachaur and Amandeep Kaur Arora from Moga. ThePrint counted seven Scheduled Caste candidates, and said 35 of the 40 are first-time legislators.
Reports differ on how many ministers made the cut. PTI said the list names no other cabinet minister besides Arora, and ThePrint said none from the Cabinet barring Mann. Both described Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal and Inderbir Singh Nijjar as former ministers. Outlook and The Federal described several of those on the list, Dhaliwal included, as ministers.
The reaction
Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring called the list fake, telling ANI, "this is a list of people who may leave the party." He asked why Cheema and Aman Arora had not been named.
Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal said on X that the list showed "complete disregard for the sentiments of the Khalsa Panth." He objected to Manwinder Singh Giaspura, the Payal MLA, who he said had been declared "tankhaiya" by the Akal Takht, and to Arora. Mann, for his part, said, "The Congress remains worried until the last day."
We did not find an official BJP reaction in the reports we read.
Incumbency as the test
Academics quoted by ThePrint read the list as a cautious one. Prof Harjeshwar Singh of SGGS College, Chandigarh, called it "routine, largely non-controversial and consisting of the loyalists." Kanwalpreet Kaur of DAV College, Chandigarh, said it should not be taken as a final endorsement of all sitting legislators, and that the real test will come with the other 77 seats.
The assembly's term ends on 16 March 2027, with polling expected in February or March, according to Outlook. The Election Commission has begun reviewing arrangements in the state's districts, The Federal reported.
Questions still unanswered
- How would Sanjeev Arora campaign from jail if he remains in custody during the election?
- Will the remaining 77 candidates include new faces in place of sitting MLAs?
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