Punjab polls: Two AAP MLAs quit party after first candidate list announcement

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Two AAP MLAs — Chetan Singh Jouramajra from Samana and Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra from Sanour in Punjab's Patiala district — resigned from the Party's primary membership on Sunday (November 1, 2026).

The development came a day after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) released its first of 40 candidates for the 2027 Punjab Assembly polls.

However, the Party has not yet declared its candidates for either Samana or Sanour.

While Mr. Pathanmajra sent his resignation letter to AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, Mr. Jouramajra, a former Minister, announced his decision through a social media post.

In Samana, the AAP had appointed former Punjab Minister Surjit Singh Rakhra as halqa (constituency) in-charge in September.

Mr. Rakhra is being seen as a likely AAP candidate from Samana, although the Party is yet to make an official announcement.

MLA from Sanour, Mr. Pathanmajra had earlier raised questions over the functioning of his own government.

A rape case was registered against Pathanmajra last year following a complaint by a Zirakpur-based woman, who had alleged that he misrepresented himself as a divorcee, entered into a relationship with her, and later married in 2021 while already being married.

Mr. Pathanmajra was arrested by the Punjab Police from Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior in March this year, more than six months after he escaped police custody in the rape case.

In May, the Punjab and Haryana High Court granted regular bail to Mr. Pathanmajra in the rape case registered against him in September last year.

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