With the Punjab Assembly elections approaching, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has made changes to its top organisational bodies, giving Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann and Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema a bigger role in the party’s decision-making process.
Mann and Cheema have been inducted into the party’s 10-member Political Affairs Committee (PAC), described as AAP’s highest decision-making body.
Mann, who was earlier a special invitee to the committee because of his position as Chief Minister, will now be a permanent member, Former Delhi minister and AAP’s co-incharge for Punjab affairs, Satyendar Jain, has also been inducted into the PAC.
The changes have also affected the party’s National Executive.
Punjab AAP president Aman Arora, Jagraon MLA Saravjit Kaur Manuke and Talwandi Sabo MLA Baljinder Kaur are no longer members of the 23-member National Executive and they have been replaced by Rajbir Ghuman, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, and Bibhav Kumar. Both have been involved in administrative work related to the party and government in Punjab.
The latest appointments give Punjab’s senior leadership a more direct role in the party’s central decision-making process. The PAC is involved in important organisational matters, including election strategy, candidate selection and campaign planning.
Cheema’s inclusion also adds another senior member of the Punjab government to the party’s top decision-making body, while Mann’s permanent membership is expected to provide a formal platform for closer coordination between the Punjab government and AAP’s national leadership.
Punjab is particularly important for the AAP as the party no longer governs Delhi. Punjab remains the party’s principal large-state government and its main electoral showcase.
In the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections, AAP won 92 of the state’s 117 seats and formed the government under Mann. The party is now preparing to defend that mandate in the upcoming election and the political contest is expected to involve the Congress, BJP, Shiromani Akali Dal and other Akali factions, along with the ruling AAP.
The party will also have to respond to criticism and political challenges on issues including unemployment, drugs, employee-related demands and the state’s financial situation.
Mann’s elevation from special invitee to permanent PAC member places the Punjab Chief Minister directly in the party’s central election planning, while Jain’s induction, meanwhile, brings another senior leader handling Punjab affairs into the top decision-making body.
The organisational changes come as AAP begins preparing its strategy for the next Punjab Assembly election, where it will seek a second consecutive term after its major victory in 2022.
