Chandigarh: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday announced its first list of candidates for the 2027 Punjab assembly elections, renominating 40 sitting MLAs without shifting any of them from their constituencies.Chief minister Bhagwant Mann will contest again from Dhuri, while jailed minister Sanjeev Arora has been fielded from Ludhiana West. Arora, the only serving minister to feature in the list, has been in judicial custody since his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in May 2026.AAP Punjab in-charge Manish Sisodia defended the decision to renominate Sanjeev Arora, crediting him with bringing substantial investments to the state during his tenure as industries minister. “BJP got rattled by the good work he was doing and had him arrested in fake cases,” Sisodia said.Arora, who is lodged in Bhondsi jail of Gurgaon, holds the rank of a cabinet minister, but does not have a portfolio.Assembly speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan has also been renominated from Kotkapura.The announcement followed a meeting of the party’s political affairs committee in New Delhi on Saturday. By relying entirely on sitting MLAs, the party has sought to avoid discontent that could arise from dropping incumbents or introducing new candidates at this stage. Assembly polls are due in Feb 2027.Finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema and industries minister Aman Arora, who is also the party’s state president, are not in the list, drawing questions from opposition. In contrast, former ministers Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Bram Shanker Sharma Jimpa, Balkar Singh and Inderbir Singh Nijjar have been named as candidates. They had left the cabinet either during a reshuffle or after resigning.Former Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa questioned the exclusion of Cheema and Aman Arora. “With this list, AAP has tried to ensure that its sitting MLAs don’t desert the party,” Warring claimed.Bajwa echoed the sentiment, claiming that AAP would eventually replace most of the candidates it announced. “This list is an attempt to hold back its MLAs from switching to other sides,” he said.The list features four women: Inderjit Kaur Mann from Nakodar, Santosh Kataria from Balachaur, Amandeep Kaur Arora from Moga and Baljinder Kaur from Talwandi Sabo.It also features three “giant killers” from AAP’s 2022 mandate: Ajitpal Singh Kohli (Patiala), who defeated former CM Capt Amarinder Singh; Labh Singh Ugoke (Bhadaur), who defeated former CM Charanjit Singh Channi; and Jagdeep Kamboj Goldy (Jalalabad), who unseated SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal.The names of potential candidates had been shortlisted on Friday during discussions between Mann, party national convener Arvind Kejriwal and Sisodia at Kejriwal’s residence.Addressing the media after the PAC meeting, Mann said the early announcement would give AAP candidates ample time to reach out to voters. Taking a swipe at the opposition, he said, “The Congress doesn’t announce its list of candidates till the last day fearing dissidence and that someone may not contest independently.”Geographically, the list is weighted heavily towards Malwa, with 27 candidates. Majha accounts for five names and Doaba for eight. Of Punjab’s 117 assembly seats, 69 are in Malwa.Of the 40 candidates, 37 had won the 2022 assembly elections, while the remaining three were elected in bypolls. They include Arora, Harmeet Singh Sandhu (Tarn Taran) and Ishank Kumar Chabbewal (Chabbewal).Five candidates are second-term MLAs who won in both 2017 and 2022. They include Sandhwan, Jai Krishan Singh Rouri (Garhshankar), Manjit Singh Bilaspur (Nihal Singh Wala), Kulwant Singh Pandori (Mehal Kalan) and Baljinder Kaur (Talwandi Sabo).Mann added the party would introduce fresh faces in subsequent lists.In 2022, AAP won 92 of the state’s 117 seats. Seven candidates have been fielded from SC-reserved constituencies: Kartarpur, Chabbewal, Payal, Nihal Singh Wala, Jaitu, Bhadaur and Mehal Kalan. Punjab has 34 SC-reserved constituencies.