Three Punjab AAP MLAs Join BJP Ahead of 2027 Assembly Polls

 

Representative photo: Central government buildings, New Delhi (Wikimedia Commons / Shahnoor Habib Munmun, CC-BY-3.0)

Punjab's ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has suffered a major political setback just months before the state goes to the polls. Three of its legislators quit the party within 48 hours and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in New Delhi on Monday, 2 November 2026, in a move that has sharply raised the political temperature ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections.

The three leaders — Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra and Chetan Singh Jouramajra — formally joined the BJP at the party's national headquarters in the presence of senior leaders, including Punjab in-charge Satish Poonia. Soon after joining, they claimed more AAP legislators could follow them.

Who Are the Three Leaders?

Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh is a former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer who represented Amritsar North. He had been suspended from the AAP in June 2025 over alleged anti-party activities. On Monday, he announced his resignation from the Punjab Legislative Assembly in a Facebook post, sharing his letter to Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan, and then joined the BJP the same day.

Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra represents Sanaur in Patiala district, while Chetan Singh Jouramajra, a former Punjab minister, represents Samana, also in Patiala district. Both men resigned from the AAP's primary membership on Sunday, 1 November, after earlier being suspended by the party over alleged anti-party activities. All three travelled to New Delhi together for the joining ceremony.

Why the Timing Matters

The exits came days after the AAP released its first list of 40 candidates for the 2027 Assembly elections. Reports noted that neither Samana nor Sanaur figured in that first list, a detail that has added to the political speculation around the defections. The AAP has said it will approach the Assembly Speaker seeking cancellation of the legislative membership of Jouramajra and Pathanmajra, alleging anti-party activity.

The departing leaders accused the Bhagwant Mann-led government of falling short on its promises, pointing to the drug menace and drug-related deaths, mounting state debt and everyday governance problems. In sharp words after joining the BJP, Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh held AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann responsible for what he described as the party's decline, saying that, in Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party was finished.

What Happens Next in Punjab?

Punjab's Assembly elections are due in early 2027, with polling expected around February–March. For the BJP, which has been working to strengthen its presence in Punjab, the induction of three sitting legislators is a visible boost. For the AAP, which won a sweeping mandate in the state in 2022, the defections are an early warning sign of internal churn before candidate selection is complete.

The bigger question is whether these three exits remain an isolated episode or mark the start of a wider churn in Punjab politics. The AAP leadership will now have to manage both the organisational fallout and the perception battle, while the BJP will try to present the defections as proof of growing support in the state.

Conclusion

Three resignations in two days may not change the arithmetic of the Punjab Assembly on their own, but they have changed the political conversation ahead of the 2027 elections. With candidate lists still being finalised and rival parties watching every move, Punjab's political contest is clearly heating up.

Do you think these defections will hurt the AAP in the 2027 Punjab elections, or will voters judge parties on their record rather than on who switches sides? Share your view in the comments.