Overview
- Two sitting AAP MLAs, Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra and Chetan Singh Jouramajra, quit the party’s primary membership and reportedly their assembly seats on Sunday after the party published its first 40-candidate list for the 2027 Punjab polls.
- Pathanmajra sent his resignation to AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and has a high-profile criminal case — registered in September 2025 for rape, cheating and intimidation — that included an alleged escape from custody, an arrest in Gwalior and regular bail from the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
- Jouramajra announced his exit on social media and cited being sidelined after AAP named former SAD leader Surjit Singh Rakhra as Samana in‑charge, a move that was widely read as a signal he might not get the party ticket.
- Media reports say both MLAs are likely to join the BJP but there is no official confirmation and any formal change of party or by‑election outcome will depend on procedural steps yet to be completed.
- The early list of 40 nominees consisted largely of incumbents and left key Patiala seats unresolved, a timing that raises tactical and reputational risks for AAP as it prepares for a tightly contested 117‑seat Punjab assembly election next year.