Representative image. Indian Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, GODL-India, Wikimedia Commons
Why it matters
The Assembly's term ends on 16 March 2027, and AAP is the first party in Punjab to name candidates for the next election. Voters in 40 constituencies now know who the ruling party is fielding, while 77 seats, including those of several ministers, remain open.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which governs Punjab, released its first list of 40 candidates for the Punjab election 2027 on Saturday, 31 October 2026, and every name on the AAP Punjab candidates list is a sitting MLA, The Hindu reported. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann will contest again from Dhuri in Sangrur district, the seat he holds now.
That leaves 77 of Punjab’s 117 seats without an AAP candidate for now, including the seats of several current ministers. The Assembly’s five-year term ends on 16 March 2027, and the Election Commission has not yet announced the poll schedule, the Financial Express reported.
Who is on the list of AAP Punjab candidates
Besides Mann, the first list renominates Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan from Kotkapura. It also names Sanjeev Arora for Ludhiana West. Arora, a minister, is in jail in an alleged money laundering case, The Hindu reported; the Financial Express said the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested him in May and that he is held in Bhondsi jail in Gurugram. The reports read did not include a response from Arora on his nomination.
Four former ministers are on the list, according to Scroll and the Financial Express: Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal (Ajnala), Bram Shanker Sharma Jimpa (Hoshiarpur), Inderbir Singh Nijjar (Amritsar South) and Balkar Singh (Kartarpur). AAP’s state working president, Amansher Singh, known as Shery Kalsi, gets Batala.
Four of the 40 AAP Punjab candidates are women: Amandeep Kaur Arora, who heads the party’s women’s wing in Punjab (Moga), Inderjit Kaur Mann (Nakodar), Santosh Kataria (Balachaur) and Baljinder Kaur (Talwandi Sabo). Seven candidates are from Scheduled Caste communities, The Indian Express reported, as cited by Scroll and the Financial Express.
Other names in the reports include Jai Krishan Singh Rouri (Garhshankar), Labh Singh Ugoke (Bhadaur), Kulwant Singh (SAS Nagar, also known as Mohali), Harmeet Singh Sandhu (Tarn Taran), Sarvan Singh Dhun (Khem Karan), Karambir Singh Ghuman (Dasuya), Jagdeep Kamboj Goldy (Jalalabad), Narinderpal Singh Sawna (Fazilka), Gurpreet Singh Banawali (Sardulgarh) and Ajitpal Singh Kohli (Patiala). NewsPlainly has not reproduced all 40 because the party’s own list, posted as an image on X, was not opened for this report.
Why the AAP first list came early, in Mann’s words
Mann told reporters that the party’s Political Affairs Committee discussed each choice in detail and that candidates who got a positive response in public surveys were considered, according to The Hindu. “Forty tickets have been finalised,” he said. He added that new faces would also get a chance, and that the party’s practice is to name candidates three or four months before an election so they can take the government’s work to voters.
Party chief Arvind Kejriwal posted “Best wishes to all candidates” on X, and Manish Sisodia, AAP’s Punjab in-charge, asked the 40 to go to every home and listen to people’s concerns, the regional news network ETV Bharat and Republic reported.
For Bhagwant Mann, Dhuri is familiar ground: he holds the seat now. The reports read carried no response to the list from the Congress, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) or the BJP.
Where the 40 seats are: Malwa first
Punjab’s three regions are very different in size, and the first list leans on the biggest. Using the split reported by The Indian Express, NewsPlainly worked out how much of each region the AAP first list already covers.
| Region | Assembly seats | AAP candidates named | Share named |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malwa | 69 | 27 | 39% |
| Doaba | 23 | 8 | 35% |
| Majha | 25 | 5 | 20% |
| Total | 117 | 40 | 34% |
The counts add up: 27, 8 and 5 make 40, and 69, 25 and 23 make 117. Majha has the lowest share named so far, with one seat in five. Four of the 40 candidates are women, or 10% of the list.
Senior names missing from the AAP first list
Several senior figures are not on this first list. ETV Bharat named Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema (Dirba), state party president and minister Aman Arora (Sunam), Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains (Anandpur Sahib), minister Baljit Kaur (Malout) and senior MLA Budh Ram (Budhlada). Scroll also noted that Aman Arora was missing. Not being on the AAP first list does not mean a candidate has been dropped; the party has not said anything about these seats in the reports read.
The reports differ slightly on AAP’s present strength. ETV Bharat put it at 94 MLAs and the Financial Express at 95. On either count, 54 or 55 sitting AAP legislators are still waiting to hear whether they will get a ticket, by NewsPlainly’s arithmetic.
For scale, AAP won 92 of the 117 seats in 2022, about 79%, with the Congress on 18 and the SAD on 3, Scroll reported. An Election Commission team reviewed poll preparations in Punjab district by district this week, the regional news network ETV Bharat and Republic reported.
What comes next for the AAP Punjab list
The party has 77 more constituencies to fill before the Punjab election 2027, and more AAP Punjab candidates are due in later lists. Mann said new faces would get a chance, but the reports read did not give a date for the second list. The Election Commission will set the poll dates; until then, the 16 March 2027 end of the Assembly’s term is the fixed deadline.
NewsPlainly reported on an earlier dispute involving Mann, over a ₹50,000 fine, on 22 October.
Frequently asked questions
Where is Bhagwant Mann contesting in 2027?
Dhuri, in Sangrur district, the same seat he holds now, according to AAP's first list released on 31 October 2026.
How many candidates are on AAP's first Punjab list?
40, all of them sitting MLAs, out of Punjab's 117 Assembly seats.
Is Sanjeev Arora on the AAP list?
Yes. Arora, a minister who is in jail in an alleged money laundering case, is the party's candidate for Ludhiana West, The Hindu reported.
When is the Punjab Assembly election 2027?
The Election Commission has not announced dates. The current Assembly's term ends on 16 March 2027.