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.
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 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.
India inshorts@indiainshorts
