Chandigarh: Defending the Aam Aadmi Party’s decision to drop several sitting MLAs, including agriculture minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian, from its second list of candidates, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday said not every leader could be accommodated with an election ticket and that some leaders were assigned responsibilities within the party organisation and worked behind the scenes.Asked specifically about Khudian’s omission from AAP’s second list of candidates for the next Assembly elections, released on Thursday, Mann said the decision rested with the party. He did not refer to Khudian by name in his response.“These are decisions of the party. Not everyone can be given an election ticket. Some are assigned responsibilities in the party organisation and work behind the scenes. Tickets can be changed, and it shouldn’t matter. There are only 117 Assembly constituencies, but the party is much bigger. Of the 31 candidates announced in the second list, 25 are new faces, and that should be appreciated,” he said.“In the 2017 Assembly elections, the party asked me to contest from Jalalabad. I was not even declared the chief ministerial face then, but I accepted the decision. The party is supreme. We are not among those who switch parties simply because they are denied an election ticket,” he said.Asked about reports of resentment among some party cadres following the release of the second list, Mann said, “Not many are upset. However, it is human nature for a leader to feel disappointed when denied an election ticket.”Khudian, who earned the tag of a ‘giant slayer’ after defeating five-time chief minister and SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal from his stronghold of Lambi in the 2022 Assembly elections, was dropped from AAP’s second list. He has since said he accepted the party’s decision wholeheartedly and would campaign for his nephew to ensure his victory.Mann also took a swipe at former SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur over the postponement of her plan to rejoin the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) due to SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal’s urgent meetings in New Delhi. The formal induction, originally scheduled for Nov 13, has now been rescheduled for Nov 15.
