AAP is expected to unveil its second list of Punjab Assembly candidates on Thursday. The names will be debated at a Political Affairs Committee meeting in Delhi that evening, led by Arvind Kejriwal.
The list may feature cabinet ministers, sitting MLAs and halqa in-charges. The first list of 40 names, released on October 31, included CM Bhagwant Mann from Dhuri.
Since then, Harmeet Pathanmajra and Chetan Jouramajra have quit the party and joined the BJP, with vacancies now in Samana, Sanaur and Amritsar North.
Rahul Gandhi launched Congress's Punjab poll campaign in Sangrur, calling Sidhu Moosewala's murder a sign of gangsterism turning into a mindset.
He attacked both the AAP government and the BJP-led Centre over gangs, drugs, unemployment and falling youth trust in institutions. He also said a Congress government would be run from Punjab, not Delhi.
Three 10-day cycle yatras through Majha, Malwa and Doaba start November 12, focusing on law and order and the killings of anti-drug activists. Rahul Gandhi may also meet families hit by drug abuse on another visit, though dates are still open.
AAP, which governs Punjab, is facing sharp questions from the Opposition as state elections draw near. The issues range from the drug problem to corruption among people in positions of power.
Central government agencies such as the ED and the CBI have also moved against party leaders in the state. A string of defections has added to the pressure, and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has asked leaders to stay loyal to their parties.
Rahul Gandhi has chosen Sangrur to open the Congress's campaign for Punjab's 2027 assembly election. He will address an Insaaf Rally there on Wednesday as the party takes on AAP in the Malwa belt.
Malwa's 69 seats are widely seen as key to power in Punjab. AAP won 66 of them in 2022, while Congress took Gidderbaha and Abohar and the SAD took Dakha.
Sangrur has also been in the news over drug-related issues, including the alleged suicide of a man from Toor Banjara village in Dirba who had publicly questioned a minister over drugs in his village.
Punjab minister Harpal Cheema has accused the BJP-led Centre of using agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate and CBI during election periods. His remarks came after ED searches at seven premises linked to AAP MLA Amandeep Kaur Arora of Moga.
The ED case is based on a June 2024 Punjab Police FIR over alleged fraud involving government land acquired for National Highway 754A and wrongful compensation payouts. Her husband's de-addiction hospital was also searched.
Rahul Gandhi, speaking at a rally in Sangrur, Punjab, linked the 2022 killing of singer Sidhu Moosewala to rising gangster violence in the state. He also criticised the AAP government's record on policing and drugs.
He recalled meeting Moosewala, who had joined Congress, and said the singer's security had been cut the day before he was killed in Mansa in May 2022. Police have pinned the murder on the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and named Canada-based Goldy Brar as a central planner.
Gandhi questioned AAP's pledge to wipe out drugs and accused Home Minister Amit Shah of backing jailed gangsters.
Rahul Gandhi launched Congress's campaign for the Punjab polls, due in early 2027, at a Sangrur rally on November 4. He attacked the ruling AAP over drugs, asking which part of the state it has cleared of them.
Gandhi said Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann would smell of liquor by 11 am when he sat in Lok Sabha. He called drinking a personal matter, but said a chief minister fighting drugs can't be intoxicated every evening.
He also said Amit Shah and Arvind Kejriwal are really steering Punjab, with Mann a figurehead, and urged voters to back Congress.
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