More than a year before Punjab votes, Aam Aadmi Party has already begun naming its fighters. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced on Thursday, 12 November 2026 that AAP has released its second list of candidates for the upcoming 2027 Punjab Legislative Assembly elections — a move that signals the party is wasting no time in locking down its electoral machinery.

Posting in Punjabi on X, Mann extended best wishes to all announced candidates and expressed confidence that they would become 'sachi awaaz' — the true voice — of people in their respective constituencies. 'I am fully confident that you will all become the genuine voice of the people in your constituencies and further strengthen our campaign to build a Rangla Punjab,' he wrote, closing with the charged rallying cry: Inquilab Zindabad! — Long live the revolution.

What 'Rangla Punjab' means — and why it matters in 2027

The phrase 'Rangla Punjab' — roughly, a 'vibrant' or 'colourful' Punjab — has been AAP's governing-era rallying vision, stitching together promises of honest governance, improved schools and mohalla clinics into a single emotional brand. It is not a new slogan; it is a promise that now has a five-year track record to defend at the ballot box. Releasing candidate lists this early transforms the slogan from aspiration into action.

AAP's 2022 landslide — the party won a commanding majority in the 117-seat Punjab Vidhan Sabha, ending decades of alternating Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal rule — set an extraordinarily high baseline to protect. Early candidate announcements serve a dual purpose: they give nominees time to build local networks, and they project organisational confidence to a public that has seen ruling parties scramble late.

Second list out — and the opposition clock starts ticking

The fact that this is already the second list of candidates underscores how systematically AAP has been rolling out its 2027 preparations. For rival parties — principally Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal, both still rebuilding after their 2022 rout — each AAP list release is a pressure event that forces them to respond or risk ceding the constituency-level ground game entirely.

Mann's post also carries a pointed ideological reminder: 'Aam Aadmi Party lok'an di apni party hai' — 'AAP is the people's own party' — and that the love and trust of ordinary people is the party's real strength. It is a line aimed as much at motivating ground workers as it is at drawing a contrast with opposition parties the AAP regularly characterises as elite-driven machines.

With elections still roughly fifteen months away, the race for Punjab's 117 assembly seats is now officially underway — and AAP has already claimed the starting blocks.