Bhagwant Mann, Harpal Cheema enter top panel, 2 MLAs exit as AAP readies for Punjab poll

Ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections, the Aam Aadmi Party has revamped its organisational setup by inducting Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, a prominent Dalit face, into its 10-member political affairs committee (PAC), while Punjab unit chief Aman Arora has been moved from being a member of the national executive to being its ex-officio member.

As part of the organisational reshuffle announced on Tuesday night, the party inducted Mann’s OSD Rajbir Singh Ghuman and national convener Arvind Kejriwal’s close aide Bibhav Kumar into its 23-member national executive. Ghuman’s name had recently figured in the Enforcement Directorate’s investigation into the alleged cash-for-transfer and land fraud case, which is currently being heard by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Two Punjab MLAs, Sarvjit Kaur Manuke of Jagraon and Baljinder Kaur of Talwandi Sabo, who is also the party’s chief whip, have been dropped from the national executive. Party sources said that Punjab AAP chief Arora was included in the reconstituted national executive as its ex-officio member as part of the party strategy to include party presidents as ex-officio members.

The changes come at a politically crucial time for AAP as it prepares to defend its only bastion Punjab where Assembly elections are due in the coming months. AAP is hoping to replicate its 2022 landslide victory—winning 92 of the 117 seats—even as Opposition parties, including the Congress, BJP, Shiromani Akali Dal and other Akali factions, seek to capitalise on anti-incumbency, drug menace, unemployment and other factors to challenge the ruling regime.

Former Delhi minister and Punjab co-incharge Satyendar Jain has also been inducted into the PAC. Mann, who was previously a special invitee to the committee by virtue of being the Chief Minister, has now been made a permanent member.

The appointments give Punjab’s leadership a direct role in decision making on organisational strategy, candidate selection and campaign planning ahead of the elections. The inclusion of Cheema, who is facing the Opposition ire over a suicide case in his constituency Dirba, adds another senior voice from Punjab in the PAC. With Mann and Cheema’s induction, the top Punjab leadership would be looking to highlight its record of fulfilling all pre-poll promises, including a range of freebies, despite financial constraints. Jain, who has been involved in policymaking in Punjab behind the scenes, is expected to continue playing a key role in coordinating between the party’s central leadership and its government in the state.