The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday announced its first list of 40 candidates for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections, with jailed minister Sanjeev Arora being named as the party's candidate from Ludhiana West.
Arora, who is currently in jail following his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in May 2026 in a money laundering case, has once again been given the responsibility of contesting from Ludhiana West. He had earlier won the Ludhiana West Assembly bypoll, making his selection one of the key announcements in the party's first list.
The announcement comes despite Arora's ongoing legal case and custody and his candidature is among the major highlights of the list, which also includes Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann from Dhuri and Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan from Kotkapura.
The party announced the names after a Political Affairs Committee (PAC) meeting in Delhi on Saturday. Most of the candidates had reportedly been finalised during a meeting involving Bhagwant Mann, AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab affairs in-charge Manish Sisodia on Friday.
Addressing the announcement, Mann said the party had congratulated all the candidates and expressed confidence in their victory, and said candidates were being announced early to give them enough time to approach voters and seek support based on the Punjab government's performance.
Mann also indicated that the party would field new faces in its upcoming lists, however, the first list largely features candidates from the existing political setup, with no new faces announced from the 40 constituencies.
Four women have also been given tickets. These include Inderjit Kaur Mann from Nakodar, Dr Amandeep Kaur Arora from Moga, Santosh Kataria from Balachaur and Baljinder Kaur from Talwandi Sabo.
Apart from Arora, several sitting ministers and MLAs have been named, including Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal from Ajnala, Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar from Amritsar South, Balkar Singh from Kartarpur, Dinesh Chadha from Ropar, Kulwant Singh from Mohali and Daljit Singh Bhola Grewal from Ludhiana East.
The party has not announced the candidature of other ministers in this list and their names are expected to figure in subsequent announcements.
The 2027 Punjab Assembly elections are due early next year, with polling expected around February-March, and the five-year term of the 117-member Punjab Assembly ends on March 16, 2027.
