CHANDIGARH: The Aam Aadmi Party‘s (AAP) Political Affairs Committee (PAC), the party’s top decision-making body, met at the residence of national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Friday to discuss candidates for the upcoming Punjab assembly elections.Kejriwal, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, party Punjab in-charge Manish Sisodia, AAP leader Satyendar Jain and Jasmine Shah attended the meeting, news agency ANI reported.Punjab finance minister Harpal Cheema and state AAP president Aman Arora joined the deliberations through video conferencing.After the meeting, Mann said the names of assembly candidates had been discussed and that the process would continue at the next PAC meeting.“The names of assembly candidates were discussed today,” Mann said.“The names will be discussed again during the PAC meeting tomorrow, October 31. The first list of candidates will be released tomorrow,” he added, ANI reported.On Wednesday, a delegation of the Election Commission of India (ECI) conducted a district-wise review of poll preparedness for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections.The delegation comprised senior deputy election commissioner Pawan Kumar Sharma, deputy election commissioner Bhanu Prakash Yeturu, director general (IT) Seema Khanna and director general (Media) Ashish Goyal.During the meeting, the delegation interacted with all 23 district election officers, commissioners of police and senior superintendents of police. Officials gave presentations on the status of election preparedness in their respective districts, ANI reported.The visiting officials emphasised strict compliance with ECI guidelines, transparency in administrative processes, timely execution of pre-poll activities and robust enforcement measures across the state.The chief electoral officer of Punjab assured the delegation that all election-related tasks would be carried out diligently and within the stipulated timelines, in accordance with the Election Commission’s instructions, to ensure free, fair, transparent and inclusive polls.Meanwhile, Hardev Singh Ubha, a senior Punjab BJP leader, met Harjit Singh Grewal, chairman of the National Commission for Minorities, at the Commission’s office in New Delhi and raised several public issues concerning Punjab and Mohali, ANI reported.During the meeting, Ubha highlighted concerns over drug abuse and the alleged death of a young man in Mansa, recurring fires at the Phase 5 dumping ground in Mohali, lack of canal water supply in several residential areas and villages, compensation for farmers affected by land acquisition in Sector 87, and delays in constructing a bridge connecting Sectors 66/67 with Sectors 80/81.He requested that the issues be brought to the attention of the concerned authorities for appropriate intervention and timely resolution in the public interest.Ubha also raised the death of Daljit Singh alias Jeeta, son of Sardar Jarnail Singh and a resident of Bhamme Kalan village in Mansa district, allegedly due to a drug overdose.(With agency inputs)
