Punjab’s political activity has started intensifying as the state moves closer to the 2027 Assembly elections, as the Aam Aadmi Party government led by Bhagwant Mann completed four and a half years in September 2026, while opposition parties are stepping up organisational activity, campaigns and political inductions.
Bhagwant Mann took oath as Punjab Chief Minister on March 16, 2022, after the AAP won 92 of the state’s 117 Assembly seats. With the next Assembly election due in 2027, the political focus has now shifted towards the final phase of the current government’s term.
The Congress has already made an organisational change in Punjab. On September 5, the party replaced Bhupesh Baghel as its AICC general secretary in-charge of Punjab with Sachin Pilot and Baghel was reassigned to Assam. The change came amid differences within the Punjab Congress.
Pilot made his first visit to Punjab as the new state in-charge on September 15 and during the visit, he led Congress protests over the death of Dalit youth Gulzar Singh in police custody and raised issues related to law and order and accountability.
Pilot has also said that Congress will go into the 2027 Punjab Assembly election without projecting a chief ministerial face beforehand, with the party opting for collective leadership.
The BJP is also preparing for a major statewide campaign and its four-part ‘Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra’ will begin on September 18 and cover all 117 Assembly constituencies, according to the BJP's announced plan, the four yatras will collectively cover around 4,000 km.
BJP national president Nitin Nabin is scheduled to flag off the campaign from Madhopur in Pathankot district. The campaign is scheduled to continue until September 30. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to address the concluding rally in Jalandhar on September 30 and the campaign is centred on the issues of drugs, law and order and governance, with the BJP using these issues to target the AAP government.
BJP leader Tarun Chugh has also said the party intends to contest all 117 Assembly seats in Punjab in the 2027 election.
Recent political developments have also brought defections and party switching back into focus.
On September 14, Major Bhupinder Singh Dhillon (retd), a cousin of former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, joined the BJP along with his son Amarvir Singh Bawa. Dhillon had served as Badal’s political secretary during the SAD-BJP government and had held the rank of Minister of State and the induction comes ahead of the 2027 election and at a time when there has also been discussion around the BJP and Shiromani Akali Dal.
Punjab has seen major leaders change parties even close to elections in the past, in 2016, Navjot Singh Sidhu quit the BJP and formally joined Congress in January 2017, only weeks before the Punjab Assembly election, he subsequently contested from Amritsar East on a Congress ticket.
The 2022 election also saw candidates entering AAP from other parties shortly before polling. Gurpreet Bassi Gogi, for example, quit Congress after 22 years, joined AAP ahead of the February 2022 election and was given the ticket from Ludhiana West, which he won.
There is also a legal factor that becomes relevant as the Assembly approaches the end of its term.
Section 151A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, generally requires a bye-election to fill a vacant Assembly or parliamentary seat within six months, however, the law contains an exception where the remaining term of the member is less than one year.
This means that once a state Assembly enters the final year of its term, a vacancy does not automatically lead to a mandatory bye-election within six months under Section 151A and the provision specifically says the six-month requirement does not apply when less than one year remains in the member’s term.
The practical difference can be seen by looking at Jalandhar West in 2024. AAP MLA Sheetal Angural joined the BJP in March 2024 and resigned from the Assembly and his resignation was accepted in June, leaving the seat vacant and leading to a bye-election.
In the July 2024 bye-election, AAP’s Mohinder Bhagat won the Jalandhar West seat. Bhagat himself had earlier been associated with the BJP and had contested the seat for the party before joining AAP, so now with Punjab now moving into the final phase before the 2027 Assembly election, such legal provisions can become relevant to future vacancies.
The combination of the AAP government completing four and a half years, Congress reorganising its Punjab leadership, the BJP beginning a statewide campaign and fresh political inductions shows that activity across parties has increased well before the formal 2027 election schedule is announced and the coming months will therefore be a period of organisational activity, campaigning, political movement and preparation for the next Assembly contest.