Punjab’s 2027 Assembly elections are still months away, but a possible contest between Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann in Dhuri is already drawing attention, as reports suggest that Amritpal Singh is considering contesting the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections from two constituencies, although the exact seats have not been officially disclosed.
If Dhuri is eventually chosen and Amritpal contests against Mann, the seat could become one of the most closely watched constituencies in Punjab, as the reason is not only the profiles of the two politicians, but also the political importance of Dhuri and the wider Malwa region.
Dhuri is part of Punjab’s Malwa region, which has 69 of the state’s 117 Assembly seats, which accounts for nearly 59 per cent of the total Assembly. Majha has 25 seats, while Doaba has 23.
Malwa has traditionally been considered particularly important in Punjab elections because of its large number of Assembly constituencies and in the 2022 Assembly elections, the Aam Aadmi Party won 66 of Malwa’s 69 seats, while across Punjab, AAP won 92 of the 117 Assembly seats and formed the government under Bhagwant Mann.
Dhuri itself was a strong seat for Mann in 2022. Contesting on an AAP ticket, he received 82,592 votes and defeated Congress candidate Dalvir Singh Khangura, who received 24,386 votes, while Mann’s winning margin was 58,206 votes.
Mann’s connection with Dhuri also has a wider political significance because he was the AAP’s chief ministerial candidate in the 2022 Assembly election and subsequently became Punjab’s Chief Minister.
Amritpal Singh’s electoral strength comes from a very different background as in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, he contested the Khadoor Sahib parliamentary constituency as an Independent candidate while he was in custody in Assam.
He won the seat with 4,04,430 votes, while Congress candidate Kulbir Singh Zira finished second with 2,07,310 votes, giving Amritpal a winning margin of 1,97,120 votes and AAP candidate Laljit Singh Bhullar received 1,94,836 votes and finished third, so the result gave Amritpal a direct electoral mandate in the Majha region.
A possible contest in Dhuri would therefore put his electoral support in Majha against Mann’s established position in Malwa, however, the two elections are not directly comparable. Amritpal’s 2024 result was in a Lok Sabha constituency, while Dhuri is an Assembly constituency. The voter base, candidates, campaign structure and issues can be different in the two types of elections.
The central question surrounding a possible Amritpal-Mann contest would be whether Amritpal can convert the support he received in Khadoor Sahib into votes in Malwa as his 2024 Lok Sabha victory showed that he could win a parliamentary constituency by a substantial margin.
However, that result alone cannot establish how he would perform in a different Assembly constituency more than 100 kilometres away from Khadoor Sahib.
For AAP, however, a direct contest between Mann and Amritpal could carry additional political significance because Dhuri is located in the same region where the party achieved its strongest performance in 2022.
AAP’s 66-seat sweep in Malwa was a major part of its 2022 victory and the party won all five Assembly seats in Sangrur district, where Dhuri is located.
A contest involving the sitting Chief Minister in one of these constituencies would therefore attract attention beyond the constituency itself.
Amritpal Singh’s legal cases are another important part of the political picture.
He was arrested in April 2023 after a month-long manhunt following the February 2023 violence at the Ajnala police station and he was subsequently detained under the National Security Act and lodged in Dibrugarh Central Jail in Assam.
His NSA detention ended on April 22, 2026, shortly afterwards, Punjab Police formally arrested him in connection with the February 2023 Ajnala police station attack case.
A Punjab Police challan was subsequently filed in the Ajnala case, and proceedings were moved forward before the Amritsar Sessions Court and these proceedings remain matters before the courts. An arrest, charge or pending criminal case is not the same as a conviction.
His legal status could also affect any future electoral plans, depending on developments in the cases and the applicable legal position at the time of the 2027 election.
For now, an Amritpal Singh versus Bhagwant Mann contest in Dhuri remains a possibility rather than a confirmed electoral matchup, as reports indicate that Amritpal is considering contesting the 2027 Punjab elections, but the exact constituencies have not been officially announced.