Punjab AAP MLAs Join BJP: 3 Rebel MLAs Quit Ahead of 2027 Polls

Three Punjab AAP MLAs join BJP ranks on Monday, November 2, 2026, in a major setback for the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections. Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra and Chetan Singh Jouramajra joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at its New Delhi headquarters, in the presence of Punjab in-charge Satish Poonia and Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon.

The defections came days after AAP released its first list of 40 candidates for the 2027 elections. The departing leaders accused the Bhagwant Mann government of failing on drugs, law and order and debt, while AAP accused the BJP of recruiting leaders who had left or been expelled by other parties. Claims that more MLAs could follow are, for now, claims, not confirmed defections.

Punjab AAP MLAs join BJP: what happened in Delhi today

The BJP announced the inductions on its official X account on November 2, naming all three leaders. The Hindu, Business Today, The Times of India and The New Indian Express all reported the joining the same day.

Pathanmajra and Jouramajra had resigned from AAP's primary membership on Sunday, November 1. Singh announced on Monday that he had resigned from the Punjab Legislative Assembly itself, sharing his letter to Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan on Facebook. It said the resignation took effect from November 1, 2026.

By the afternoon, the story was still developing: news agency IANS reported that AAP had begun preparing to seek the disqualification of two of the MLAs who quit on Sunday. That reported move, if filed, would test whether the switch triggers anti-defection proceedings.

Punjab AAP MLAs join BJP: who are the three leaders

Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh was the AAP MLA from Amritsar North and a former IPS officer who probed the 2015 Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan police-firing cases. He was suspended from AAP in June 2025, reportedly for five years, over alleged anti-party activities.

Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra represented Sanaur and Chetan Singh Jouramajra represented Samana, both in Patiala district. Jouramajra was a Cabinet minister from January 2023 to September 2024. Neither seat figured in AAP's first candidate list, and the party had appointed new constituency in-charges in both.

Punjab AAP MLAs join BJP: why they say they quit

The three leaders gave overlapping reasons, all aimed at the Mann government's record. Pathanmajra and Jouramajra said the party had failed to fulfil its 2022 promises, particularly making Punjab drug-free. They also raised law and order, farmers' issues, rising debt and shortages in schools and hospitals.

Pathanmajra said Punjab was now known as Udta Punjab and should become Ubharta Punjab, and he alleged the government had taken on around Rs 2.5 lakh crore in loans. That loan figure is his allegation, not a verified figure. Jouramajra alleged a mining mafia and scams in government schemes, and said Punjab needed a double-engine government, meaning the same party at the Centre and in the state.

Singh was the most blunt. He described his five years in AAP as an internship that had now ended, said the party was finished in Punjab in practical terms, and held national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann responsible. He predicted a BJP double-engine government after the next election. Those are his political claims, which AAP rejects.

Punjab AAP MLAs join BJP: how AAP hit back

AAP's Punjab chief Aman Arora accused the BJP of inducting leaders who had left or been expelled by other parties, while spokesperson Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal mocked the BJP as a kabaad di dukaan, or junk shop. The party's line is that these were already sidelined figures, not a collapse of its core.

Congress MP Manish Tewari called Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram politics damaging, while Shiromani Akali Dal leader Daljit Singh Cheema predicted more exits once the Model Code of Conduct comes into force. That is a prediction, not a fact.

Punjab AAP MLAs join BJP: what it means for the 2027 election

In 2022, AAP won 92 of the 117 seats, far above the majority mark of 59, while Congress won 18, the Shiromani Akali Dal three and the BJP just two. Even after losing three MLAs, AAP would still hold a large majority, so the defections do not by themselves threaten the government. Their importance is political: they signal dissent and feed an anti-incumbency narrative.

The elections are due in early 2027, with polling expected around February to March, and the Assembly's term ends on March 16, 2027. Jouramajra suggested some ticket-holders might relinquish their tickets and join the BJP. Whether that happens will test whether November 2 was a one-day story or a larger exodus.

Punjab AAP MLAs join BJP: what happens next

• The Speaker's decision on Singh's Assembly resignation.
• Disqualification petitions: whether AAP follows through on the reported plan for the MLAs who quit on Sunday.
• More exits or not: whether any other AAP leader actually switches, as the departing leaders predict.
• Candidate lists: how AAP fills Samana and Sanaur, and whether the BJP fields any of the three.
• The campaign narrative: whether drugs, debt and law and order define the Punjab election, as the defectors argue.

For now, the verified picture is this: three sitting Punjab MLAs quit AAP and joined the BJP in Delhi on November 2, citing unfulfilled promises and governance failures, and AAP has hit back while reportedly preparing a disqualification move. Claims of a wider exodus remain unproved.

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