AAP Drops Seven Sitting MLAs, Fields Two MPs In Second List For 2027 Punjab Polls

The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday released its second list of 31 candidates for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections, dropping seven sitting MLAs, including Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian, and fielding two Lok Sabha MPs.

The list, announced by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann in Delhi following a meeting of the party's Political Affairs Committee, takes the total number of candidates declared so far to 71 for the 117-member Assembly. The party had announced its first list of 40 candidates on October 31.

Khuddian, who represents Lambi in Muktsar district, has been replaced by his nephew Randhir Singh Dhira Khuddian, chairperson of the Punjab State Container and Warehousing Corporation. Khuddian had defeated five-time chief minister Parkash Singh Badal from the constituency in the 2022 elections.

Among the prominent sitting MLAs denied renomination are Anmol Gagan Maan, Charanjit Singh, Raman Arora and Anmol Rattan Kotfatta.

The party has fielded its two Lok Sabha MPs, Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer from Barnala and Raj Kumar Chabbewal from Phagwara. Hayer represents Sangrur in Parliament, while Chabbewal is the MP from Hoshiarpur.

In other significant changes, industrialist Nitin Kohli has been nominated from Jalandhar Central in place of Raman Arora, while Parminder Singh Goldy will contest from Kharar, replacing Anmol Gagan Maan.

The AAP has also fielded Jaskanwar Singh Gill from Patti, replacing jailed MLA Laljit Singh Bhullar, who is facing a case linked to the suicide of a Punjab State Warehousing Corporation official.

Meanwhile, Karamjit Singh Rintu has been nominated from Amritsar North following the resignation of suspended MLA Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, who recently joined the BJP.

Bhagwant Mann, who has been renominated from Dhuri, is so far the only member of the current state Cabinet to have secured a ticket in the two lists announced by the party.