AAP second list: Minister Gurmeet Khuddian, ex-minister Anmol Gagan Maan out; 2 MPs, 25 new faces

Chandigarh. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday denied tickets to a serving minister and a former minister, fielded two of its MPs and picked 25 newcomers as it named 31 more candidates for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections.

Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian has lost Lambi, the seat where he defeated former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal in 2022. The party has given it to his nephew, Randhir Singh Dhira Khuddian, chairman of the Punjab State Container Warehousing Corporation. Khuddian is not on either of AAP’s two lists.

Former minister Anmol Gagan Maan has been dropped from Kharar. Parminder Singh Goldy replaces her.

Two sitting MPs will contest the Assembly polls. Sangrur MP Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer returns to Barnala, his old seat, which the Congress won in the 2024 bypoll. Hoshiarpur MP Dr Raj Kumar Chabbewal will contest Phagwara.

Only two sitting MLAs were renominated: Saravjit Kaur Manuke (Jagraon) and Amandeep Singh Goldy Musafir (Balluana). Four more were dropped: Dr Charanjit Singh (Chamkaur Sahib), who defeated then chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi in 2022, Raman Arora (Jalandhar Central), Amit Rattan Kotfatta (Bathinda Rural) and Kulwant Singh Bazigar (Shutrana).

Three candidates who lost in 2022 get another chance: Raman Bahl (Gurdaspur), Shamsher Singh (Dina Nagar) and Dr KNS Kang (Dakha).

Most of the new faces are constituency in-charges. Jalandhar Mayor Vaneet Dhir gets Jalandhar North, industrialist Nitin Kohli gets Jalandhar Central and party general secretary Deepak Bali gets Jalandhar Cantonment. Amritsar Improvement Trust chairman Karamjit Singh Rintu takes Amritsar North, which fell vacant after Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh resigned and joined the BJP. Retired PCS officer Gopal Singh gets Bathinda Rural.

In Patti, former wrestler Jaskanwar Singh Gill, known as Jassa Patti, replaces jailed former minister Laljit Singh Bhullar. Bhullar announced on Tuesday that he would not contest.

Several leaders from rival parties also made the list. They include former Akali MLAs Pawan Kumar Tinu (Adampur) and Vaninder Kaur Loomba (Shutrana), ex-Akali leader Talbir Singh Gill (Majitha), former BSP state chief Jasvir Singh Garhi (Chamkaur Sahib) and ex-BJP leader Swaran Singh Salaria (Sujanpur). Actress Sonia Mann gets Raja Sansi.

AAP lost 20 of these 31 seats in 2022. Its first list of 40, released on October 31, had only sitting MLAs. The party has now named 71 of its 117 candidates.