AAP Releases First List for 2027 Elections, 3 MLAs Quit to Join BJP

Panjab's ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has released its first list of 40 candidates for the 2027 assembly election. Released on 31 Oct, all the candidates in the list are sitting legislators. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann will recontest from the Dhuri Assembly constituency, Sangrur district. Prominent among those missing are Panjab Finance Minister Harpal Cheema, Education Minister Harjot Bains, and Panjab AAP chief Aman Arora. Meanwhile, three sitting Members of Legislative Assembly, Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra from Sanaur, Chetan Singh Jouramajra from Sunam, and Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh from Amritsar North, have resigned from AAP’s primary membership and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Pathanmajra’s relations with AAP deteriorated after he criticized Panjab Principal Secretary, Home Affairs and Justice Krishan Kumar during the 2025 floods. The government charged him in alleged rape and illegal mining cases in September 2025. Panjab police then arrested him near Gwalior in March, and he is out on bail. Jouramajra won from Samana in 2022, defeating veteran Shiromani Akali Dal leader Surjit Singh Rakhra, and was made the Health and Family Welfare Minister. In January 2023, after he mistreated the then Vice-Chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot, Dr. Raj Bahadur, he was moved to different portfolios and eventually dropped from the cabinet in September 2024. Rakhra joined AAP in May 2025, which places Jouramajra’s nomination from Samana in jeopardy. Vijay Partap is a former Indian Police Service officer who resigned in April 2021, shortly after the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed his Special Investigation Team's report on the 2015 Kotkapura police firing case, related to the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib (Sikh scripture and charter). He campaigned for AAP in more than 70 seats in 2022, promising to bring the culprits to justice. When AAP did not pursue the sacrilege or shooting cases, he started expressing his views independently of the party line and was suspended for five years over alleged anti-party activities in June 2025. BJP is likely to field all three from the same Assembly constituencies they won in the 2022 Assembly elections. Meanwhile, following a meeting of its principal drafting committee and senior leadership, Akali Dal (Waris Punjab De, WPD) has dissolved its existing organizational structure and will reconstitute it (earlier coverage).

Panjab CM Bhagwant Mann | Photo by The New Indian Express

Panjab Assembly Passes Resolutions on Key River Water Issues

Panjab Water Resources Minister, Barinder Kumar Goyal, moved five river water-related resolutions on 27 Oct in the Punjab Legislative Assembly. The Assembly passed the resolutions, which asserted the state’s rights over its river waters. Goyal argued that Panjab, which faces increasing pressure on its groundwater resources and has substantial agricultural water requirements of its own, should not be expected to supply water to Rajasthan free of cost when the latter even earns revenue from it. He said that Rajasthan is not a riparian state and should pay for the water it receives. The resolution called upon the Rajasthan government and the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti (Water Resources) to acknowledge the liability, ensure annual payments, and settle the cost of the water supplied. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann pegged the state’s outstanding royalty claim at USD 15B. Another resolution challenged Section 79(1)(c) of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, under which the control of the Ropar, Harike, and Ferozepur irrigation headworks was assigned to the Bhakra Beas Management Board. CM Mann said, 'Water is a state subject, and the control of headworks rests with the states.' Yet another resolution asserted Panjab’s historical and legal claim to the waters of river Yamuna, which flowed through undivided Panjab before the state’s reorganization in 1966. Goyal also mentioned that no water was released to Pakistan from Madhopur headworks, adding that flood flow across the border came largely from rivers and streams originating in Jammu and Kashmir that join the river Ravi downstream. The AAP government had agreed to pass some of these resolutions after discussions with leaders of farmer unions Samyukt Kisan Morcha and Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) earlier in 2026. These resolutions signal a major political outreach by AAP to the farming community, while bringing the politically sensitive issue of river-water sharing to the forefront of political debate ahead of the upcoming 2027 Assembly elections. However, on 16 Nov 2016, the then Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party government had also passed a resolution seeking royalty for water supplied to non-riparian states. CM Mann also pointed out that his government is strengthening the state’s own irrigation network, expanding canal water access from 22% to 80% of fields in four years, and laying 14K km of underground pipelines (earlier coverage).

Screengrab from a video showing Panjab Police snatching deceased youth Daljit Singh's body | Photo by The Wire

Mansa Deaths & Drugs Menace Occupy Centerstage

While anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota's body awaits cremation, another young man, 35-year-old Daljit Singh from Bhamme Kalan village, Mansa district, died of drug overdose on 27 Oct. Initially, Daljit's family staged a dharna on the Mansa-Sirsa road demanding justice and arrest of drug peddlers. Later, they decided to take the body of the deceased to Jhota Insaaf Morcha (Jhota Justice Front), where Jhota’s family is sitting in vigil over his body. The police stopped the protesters at Ramdittewala crossing, Mansa and forcibly snatched the body of the deceased youth. The police later claimed Daljit was murdered and pressured his family to agree to a post-mortem and cremation. The family refused. As supporters gathered, police detained activists Lakhvir Singh Sidhana alias Lakha Sidhana, Bhagwan Singh Sidhu alias Bhana Sidhu, Mohanjeet Singh Sheoran, and Punjab Students Union leader Arvinder Kaur Azad. On 29 Oct, the court remanded Sidhana and Sheoran to custody for four days. The police have registered two First Information Reports—one for Daljit’s murder and another for an attempt to murder over the attack on the police team. The police have temporarily deployed three Superintendents of Police in Mansa and transferred two Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSP), besides appointing a replacement for a DSP who was recently suspended. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has assigned X-category security cover to the families of Jhota and Glulzar Singh of Toor Banjara village, Sangrur. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notices to the Panjab Chief Secretary and Panjab Director General of Police to inquire into the circumstances leading to the suspicious death of Daljit Singh from Mansa, and submit an action-taken report within two weeks. Farmers' union Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) has started agitations outside 48 police stations demanding Daljit's body be returned to his family. Meanwhile, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau has filed a chargesheet against Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia and 12 others in a disproportionate assets case. While Majithia termed the chargesheet a 'bundle of lies', the ruling Aam Aadmi Party leaders linked it to solving the state’s drug menace. Furthermore, the Panjab cabinet has approved establishing 35 exclusive special Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances courts across the state to fast-track trials and clear a backlog of 52,577 cases (earlier coverage).

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi | Photo by The Hindu

INDIA Bloc Symbolically Impeaches CEC; Gandhi to Visit Panjab

The Opposition, INDIA bloc, conducted a symbolic 'public impeachment' of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on 31 Oct in New Delhi. The INDIA bloc leaders leveled six charges against Kumar, including conspiring with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to steal elections, deleting 132M voters through the Special Intensive Revision of voter lists, and acting at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. On 1 Nov, the INDIA bloc held a huge rally at the Ram Lila Maidan, Delhi, demanding Kumar's resignation. Over 100K people attended and chanted 'save the vote, save the country', and 'vote thief, give up power'. When traders from Connaught Place objected to the rally, citing difficulty for shoppers during the festival season, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi appealed to supporters to attend the rally and shop before heading home. However, the ruling BJP forcibly shut the market. Shah called it shameful that the rally was taking place on the 42^nd anniversary of the 1984 Sikh genocide. BJP leaders Hardeep Singh Puri and Manjinder Singh Sirsa even took out a march against the rally. However, the Sikhs did not fall for the provocation, in which they would be used as pawns by BJP against Indian National Congress (INC). At the rally, Gandhi said, ‘This is not the voice of a single political party or of politicians. It is the voice of India's youth, women, farmers, and workers. We will not allow democracy to be destroyed in India. We will not allow the constitution to be destroyed.’ Meanwhile, in preparation for the 2027 Assembly elections, the INC leadership, led by General Secretary KC Venugopal and state in-charge Sachin Pilot, met with Panjab INC leaders and laid down rules: no solo campaigns, no individual projection, and absolute adherence to collective strategy. Recognizing the acute sensitivity surrounding centralized interference, Venugopal said neither he nor Sachin Pilot were from Panjab and could claim local positions. By directly addressing whispers of INC high-command imposition or external favoritism, the INC leadership is attempting to disarm anti-establishment narratives before the campaign formally kicks off with Gandhi's upcoming ‘Insaaf (Justice) Rally’ in Sangrur on 4 Nov. Panjab INC chief Pargat Singh said, 'The rally would be a voice for Panjab’s rights, farmers’ concerns, the future of its youth, and the people’s demand for justice. Panjab needs accountable governance to overcome the crises of drugs, unemployment, and deteriorating law and order’ (earlier coverage).

Takht Sri Hazur Sahib, Nanded | Photo by The Tribune

1984 Genocide a ‘Blot on Humanity’; ‘Takht Hazur Sahib’ Board Reinstated

Terming the November 1984 genocide ‘a blot on the world’s largest democracy’, apex Sikh management body Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Harjinder Singh Dhami said the wounds of the victims and their families remained unhealed after more than four decades. In a statement, Dhami paid tribute to the Sikhs, including men, women, and children, who were killed in Delhi and other parts of India during the violence. He alleged that the genocide was carried out with the patronage of the then ruling Indian National Congress government and that Sikhs were subjected to inhuman atrocities for nearly a week. The exact number of Sikh officers and soldiers who were murdered, solely because of their faith, often while traveling or off-duty, is still not known. In 1991, a then member of Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament), Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora (retd), had specifically asked about Sikh officers killed in the genocide but received no answer. In October 2008, ‘The Indian Express’ reported that the Indian Army’s Ceremonial and Welfare Directorate in the Adjutant General’s Branch had formally admitted for the first time that 34 Army personnel, including one ex-serviceman, were killed. A note was circulated to the various Commands and Regiments seeking details of the victims, and urging speedy processing of compensation cases under the central rehabilitation package announced in January 2006. Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government has reinstated the Nanded Sikh Gurdwara Sachkhand Shri Hazur Abchalnagar Sahib Board, following directions from the Bombay High Court, ending a period of administration by a government-appointed administrator after the board’s dissolution in 2022. While board president Bhupinder Singh Minhas has passed away, the remaining eight members are expected to assume charge. Furthermore, addressing the 10^th anniversary event of the UK-based Sikh Recovery Network at the UK Parliament, Sri Akal Takht Sahib (Eternal Throne) Jathedar (leader) Giani Kuldip Singh Gargajj called for a comprehensive approach to tackle the drug menace, stressing that curbing drug supplies and providing effective rehabilitation must go hand in hand. Giani Gargajj also attended a commemoration organized by the UK's local Sikh community in Thetford town to mark the 133^rd death anniversary of Maharaja Duleep Singh, the last ruler of Maharaja Ranjit Singh's empire, who was exiled to England in 1849 after the British annexed Panjab (earlier coverage).

Quebec Minister of National Education Joël Arseneau | Photo by Le Devoir

Quebec Bans Turbans & Niqabs in Schools; Naindeep Cleared by Toxicology

The newly elected government in Quebec province, Canada is set to ban overt religious attire, including Sikh turbans and Muslim niqabs, in elementary schools. Quebec Education Minister Joël Arseneau said, ‘It's accepted that when you send your child to school, there are rules. The vast majority of people will understand that a religious symbol can be removed.’ Quebec began restricting religious symbols in public spaces in 2019, when the Coalition Avenir Québec government introduced its controversial secularism law, which barred certain public servants in positions of authority from displaying visible symbols of faith. Meanwhile, in the US, Fresno City Council candidate Naindeep Singh Chann has been cleared of Driving Under the Influence accusations after laboratory results showed no drugs in his system. Fresno Police Chief Mindy Casto said Naindeep’s blood test came back negative for any drugs. Naindeep was arrested on 24 Oct night over expired tags; he felt vindicated by the test results. Despite a public apology from Fresno Police Chief Mindy Casto, Naindeep's legal team is seeking information about the arrest and how details were disclosed to the media. His association with the Jakara movement, pushing for Panjabi, Sikh & LGBTQ+ rights in California and emphasizing transparency and rebuilding trust between Fresno city hall leadership and residents has made him a target of many attacks. Additionally, a truck driver of Panjabi origin, Khushwinder Gill, has been charged in Canada for allegedly trying to smuggle 52 bricks of cocaine and heroin across the Canada-US border in 2025. David Lee of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) said, ‘This significant seizure reflects the strong partnership between the CBSA and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Together, we are helping protect communities in Canada from drug trafficking.’ Concurrently, Sukhwinder Kaur from Moga has petitioned the US government and the High Commission of India for custody and repatriation of her eight-month-old grandson after her 30-year-old daughter, Jasmine Aujla Gill, was murdered in California. Jasmine went missing from her Sacramento home on 30 Sep. Her husband, Gurinder Singh Gill, told the authorities that ICE agents had taken her into custody. However, Jasmine’s burned and buried human remains were found in neighboring El Dorado County on 1 Oct. The police arrested Gurinder on 14 Oct, after learning that the couple was in an ongoing divorce and child custody dispute. Furthermore, more than a year after completing his sentence, 24-year-old Amritpal Singh from Khaire Ke Uttar village, Fazilka district, continues to languish in a Pakistani jail, despite a court ordering his deportation to India. Amritpal inadvertently crossed the international border on 27 Jun 2025 while cultivating his agricultural land located beyond the barbed-wire fence (earlier coverage).

PHHC Summons Chief Secretary, Imposes Fine; Panjab Expands Rural Bus Network

The Punjab and Haryana High Court (PHHC) imposed a fine of USD 1,054 on Panjab Chief Secretary KAP Sinha and summoned him for hearing on 3 Nov over the state government’s non-compliance with the court order on release of Dearness Allowance to employees and pensioners. Sinha is also facing criminal contempt in the same matter for making a ‘false statement’ over listing of the state’s appeal in the apex court. PHHC has also directed Sinha to file an affidavit on the financial position and proposed borrowings of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL). The directions came in response to a Public Interest Litigation filed by Jaskirat Singh and others seeking complete records relating to the ‘₹10,000 crore (USD 1.05B) loan being raised by the PSPCL’. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann flagged off 100 new 29-seater mini buses for the PEPSU Roadways Transport Corporation in Patiala on 26 Oct. He said the buses would connect villages and small towns with cities, improving access to education, employment, markets, and essential services. The Corporation has distributed the buses among nine depots. Additionally, the Panjab government has registered around 7.9M women beneficiaries under the Mukh Mantri Mawan Dheeyan Satkar Yojana (welfare scheme for women) and released financial assistance amounting to USD 393M so far. Furthermore, Municipal Corporation Patiala has started the process to allot shops to tenants under the recently launched Meri Dukan Mere Naam (my shop in my name) scheme for shopkeepers running a business from a rented property owned by Urban Local Bodies (ULB) measuring up to 50 sq yards. Shopkeepers can own shops by paying prescribed charges. The scheme is available across 116 ULBs in Panjab. Concurrently, the Federation of Industrial and Commercial Organisation (FICO) has urged CM Mann to ensure the early release of pending Goods and Services Tax and Value Added Tax refunds, adding that prolonged delays are squeezing working capital for micro, small, and medium enterprises. FICO said delayed refund disbursements are blocking essential capital and making it difficult for businesses to sustain day-to-day activities. FICO called for an urgent, time-bound mechanism to process outstanding claims and clear eligible dues. They highlighted that several manufacturing units have been awaiting their legitimate dues for years (earlier coverage).

Paddy procurement at Sirhind grain market | Photo by The Hindustan Times

Farmers Cheer Basmati Price; Protest Against Ethanol Plant Cleared

As paddy harvesting gathers pace, mandis (grain markets) are coming under mounting pressure, with slow lifting and a storage crunch leaving heaps of grain piling up. Since 1 Oct, around 9.2 MMT of paddy have arrived in the mandis. Of this, 3 MMT are awaiting lifting. A farmer from Khokh village, Patiala district, Nek Singh says, ‘The paddy piles are extending on the roads leading to the mandi. The scenario is getting worse with every passing day.’ The pressure is particularly evident in the districts of Tarn Taran, Amritsar, and Gurdaspur. Procurement is expected to continue until mid-November, with 1,872 mandis and 761 temporary procurement centers handling arrivals. Additionally, basmati prices in Panjab have touched USD 55 per quintal, bringing cheer to farmers but raising concerns among exporters, amid uncertainty over vessel movements through the Strait of Hormuz, due to the conflict involving Israel, US, and Iran. India exports around 6.5 MMT of basmati rice annually, with Panjab accounting for 40% of the total exports. Meanwhile, police cleared a sit-in protest by residents and farm union members outside Harp Chemicals ethanol factory in Jahangir village, Sangrur on 28 Oct, amid allegations of a baton charge by protestors. Alleging air and water pollution, the protestors had been protesting for two months, demanding the factory’s complete closure. The Punjab Pollution Control Board also issued a show-cause notice to the factory in October, stating that it was discharging wastewater/leachate outside its premises in the form of wet boiler ash through loaded wet boiler ash tippers in violation of the Water Act, 1974. It also stated that the factory was violating conditions stipulated in its Environmental Clearance. Advocate Amandeep Singh Chahal, among the protesters, alleged that police forcibly removed the peaceful sit-in. Sangrur Superintendent of Police said the protest site was cleared following directions from the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Furthermore, the testimony of 83-year-old farmer Mahinder Kaur, from Bahadurgarh Jandian village, Bathinda district remained incomplete due to a shortage of court time and her health condition. Mahinder had filed a defamation case against actor and Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Kangana Ranaut, who called her Bilkis Bano in a tweet during the Farmers Protest 1.0 (2020–21) and said ‘such women were available for ₹100 (USD 1.05) to participate in protests’ (earlier coverage).

AQI | Photo by Aurassure

Stubble Burning Doesn’t Influence Delhi’s AQI; New Org on Water Pollution

Delhi-based climate research organization Climate Trends has found that stubble burning in Panjab and Haryana had little influence on the national capital’s air quality during September and October between 2024–2026. The report stated that the improvement in Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) in recent years hides ‘a worse ordinary day’ and highlighted that while the mean AQI fell from 169.3 to 142.6 between 2025–2026—a 15.8% drop—the median AQI actually deteriorated. The median AQI rose from 135 to 154—a 14.1% increase over the same period. The mean AQI is the simple average of daily readings, while the median AQI is the middle value when daily readings are arranged from lowest to highest. The median AQI is considered a better measure of a typical day and is barely affected by one or two extreme spikes. The report said: ‘Fire events in Punjab and Haryana were essentially unchanged between 2025 and 2026, down just 4% (201 to 193), yet Delhi’s AQI fell 15.8% over the same period. Between 2024 and 2025, by contrast, fires dropped 88% while Delhi’s AQI fell 3.9%.’ Additionally, Chitti Bein Morcha (Front), a new organization formed by Panjab-based activists in Jalandhar, has decided to take up river and water pollution in the state. The participants unanimously resolved to establish a democratic state-level member committee, supported by regional committees in all affected villages to coordinate the movement and ensure wider public participation. The meeting, attended by dozens of environmentalists, social activists, farmers' representatives, and concerned citizens from across the state, highlighted grave public health and environmental concerns arising from contaminated water, especially the growing cancer burden in Malwa region—south Panjab. Meanwhile, three children, including two infants, died under mysterious circumstances in Mohrewala village, Ferozepur district. The Health Department has collected water samples to ascertain the cause of the deaths. Concurrently, the Public Action Committee (PAC) has questioned the recently constituted 10-member committee on restoration of Buddha Dariya/Nullah, Ludhiana headed by Member of Parliament Balbir Singh Seechewal. PAC emphasized that restoring Buddha Dariya should be integrated with protecting the river Satluj, groundwater resources, drainage networks, and surrounding ecosystems (earlier coverage).

10.

Panjab Hosts Asian Hockey Trophy; India Secures Place in Semi-Finals

Panjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann inaugurated the Hero Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) Panjab 2026 at the Olympian Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium, Jalandhar on 27 Oct. Panjab is hosting the Asian Hockey Championship for the first time ever. It is also hosting an international tournament for the first time since 2009. Mann said ACT fulfilled a long-standing wish of the state’s hockey players to compete on home ground and expressed confidence that Panjab could host the Hockey World Cup in 2030. The championship features teams from six countries—Bangladesh, China, Japan, Korea, and Malaysia, along with representatives of Hockey India and the International Hockey Federation. Eight members of the current Indian team are from Panjab. India defeated Bangladesh 13-0 in their opening match on 27 Oct. Halfway through the match, fans continued to wait outside the gates to enter. Entry to the stadium was free, and because of the terraced seating, more people watched the match than the 7K capacity. Indian hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh’s father, Sarabjit Singh, watched him play live for the first time. He said, ‘I still remember the time when I first came here with Harman to drop him off at this academy in my Maruti (car). He was such a small kid then. Now, seeing him play an international match is a surreal feeling.’ A group of young children from Dilpreet Singh’s hometown Batala, Gurdaspur district, also came to watch their hockey idols in Jalandhar. Holding posters of their favorite players, many of these children got a glimpse of the world they aspire to enter one day. India then registered 5-2 and 4-1 wins over China and Japan, respectively, to seal their place in the semifinals on 4 Nov. On 1 Nov, captain Harmanpreet’s hat-trick and a superb strike from Sukhjeet Singh helped India win 4-2 over Malaysia. Harmanpreet was named Player of the Match. Speaking of future plans, India’s chief coach, Craig Fulton, hinted that a younger group will travel to New Zealand after the ACT, and a new training squad will be finalized ahead of the Pro League in February. But for now, the focus is clinching the ACT finals on 5 Nov (earlier coverage).

Notes

Updates

IN: Hardeep Singh Puri nominated for Rajya Sabha by-poll from Madhya Pradesh (earlier coverage).
IN: Government issues notification for repoll in 28 Patiala Municipal Corporation wards following Supreme Court order (earlier coverage).
IN: Delhi Air Force sports complex shut, outgoing Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal A P Singh’s golfing-out ceremony canceled.

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AAP Releases First List for 2027 Elections, 3 MLAs Quit to Join BJP