Waris Punjab De, led by jailed MP Amritpal Singh, has inducted Amarjit Singh Amba Sursingh, a kabaddi player who has competed internationally. It has also offered a spot to a relative of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota if they want to contest Punjab's 2027 polls.
The party says the move shows growing support across different sections of society, and it has ruled out any alliance, saying it will contest alone.
Decisions on candidates and electoral strategy are expected soon.
The draft voter list for all 117 Punjab Assembly seats is out under the 2027 Special Summary Revision. Requests to add names or fix entries can be filed until December 11, and the final list is due on January 4, 2027.
Voters can check their entries on the CEO Punjab website or the ECI's Voters' Service Portal. Anyone who turns 18 by January 1, 2027 can apply to enrol, and assistance desks are open at district election offices.
Forms 6 to 8 cover new enrolment, overseas voters, deletions and corrections or address changes. Questions can go to the Voter Helpline on 1950.
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.
Punjab Congress will start a statewide outreach drive, 'Punjab Mangda Insaaf', on November 11 to hear from residents directly. Senior leaders will meet farmers, traders, workers, youth, women and people in IT and industry.
Feedback from the campaign and from experts will help shape the party's manifesto for the coming Assembly polls. Punjab Congress chief Pargat Singh said the first candidate list is still being prepared and will be released at the earliest.
The Election Commission has extended its Model Code of Conduct to retired officials engaged by the governments of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur, all of which are heading to the polls.
Until now, no specific rules governed these retirees. The same limits that bind serving staff will now apply to them during the code period.
State governments are also barred from calling election officers in districts or constituencies where polls are announced to official meetings or video conferences. The EC has warned of strict action for any violation.
The Election Commission has told the Delhi High Court that an objection still holds up a decision on registering Waris Punjab De as a political party. Its inquiry through Punjab's chief electoral officer is still pending.
The objection came in July 2026 and alleged the group had separatist roots. The party first applied in January 2025.
If the inquiry comes back favourable, the party must still publish public notices and allow 30 days for objections. The High Court hears the case again on January 11, 2027.
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.
A committee opposing Himachal Pradesh's entry tax is urging the BJP-led Centre to act, saying its many requests have been ignored.
Its legal member has filed a 96-page submission seeking a statewide protest and arguing the Centre can order the state to take down the barriers on national highways.
The Nangal municipal council and the Ropar district council want to impose a matching tax on Himachal vehicles, but the Punjab government has not yet allowed it. The committee will also press candidates in the 2027 Punjab polls on what they have done about the issue.
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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