The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is likely to announce its second list of candidates for the upcoming Punjab Assembly election on Thursday.
The names are to be discussed in the party’s Political Affairs Committee scheduled to meet in Delhi in the evening.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has left for Delhi to attend the meeting, which will be chaired by AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal. The meeting is expected to discuss the names of candidates for several Assembly constituencies as the party steps up the poll preparation.
The second list is likely to include the names of some cabinet ministers, sitting MLAs and constituency-level halqa in-charges. The party is expected to deliberate on the winnability of candidates and its electoral strategy before finalising the names.
The meeting assumes significance as the party has already announced its first list of 40 candidates on October 31. The list included several sitting MLAs and senior party leaders. CM Mann was named as the candidate from Dhuri, while Speaker Kultar Sandhwan was fielded from Kotkapura. The party also retained several legislators who have won their seats in the previous two Assembly elections.
Following the announcement, the party witnessed resignations by three of its sitting MLAs. Harmeet Pathanmajra, who represented Sanaur, and Chetan Jouramajra, the MLA from Samana, resigned from the party. Both, along with former AAP MLA Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, subsequently joined the BJP. The resignations led to vacancies in the Samana, Sanaur and Amritsar North constituencies.
The second list is expected to provide further clarity on the party’s candidate selection exercise, particularly in constituencies where ministers, sitting legislators and local-level functionaries are being considered.