Arvind Kejriwal to Bhagwant Mann: AAP rejigs Punjab game plan, bets big on CM for 2027

With barely eight months left for the Punjab Assembly elections, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has stepped up its preparations for the high-stakes battle, putting Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann at the centre of its campaign and messaging.

The AAP’s bid to rally behind Mann for the 2027 elections seems to mark a clear shift in its strategy from the 2022 polls, when party chief Arvind Kejriwal towered over its campaign.

This change is evident in the party’s slogans, outreach events and narrative. It has been done at a politically sensitive moment, with Mann facing sustained attacks from the Opposition parties amid an escalating confrontation between the Sikh clergy and the AAP government over the recently enacted anti-sacrilege law and a “sacrilege video” allegedly involving the CM.

On June 15, Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj declared CM Mann “Guru dokhi” (anti-Guru) and “Khalsa panth virodhi” (anti-Khalsa panth) over the alleged sacrilege video. The Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs, said forensic examinations had found the video “authentic” and not AI-generated, accusing Mann of misleading it by claiming the video was fake.

Dismissing the allegation as a “politically motivated conspiracy”, Mann however maintained that he was not the person seen in the video, accusing certain religious authorities of “indulging in false propaganda at the behest of their political bosses” to defame him.

The Akal Takht’s censure of the CM triggered a political storm, with the Opposition parties, including the Sukhbir Badal-led Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Congress and BJP, targeting Mann and demanding his resignation.

Yet, the AAP seems to have doubled down on projecting Mann as the face of its government and its 2027 poll campaign.

2022 battle

The AAP’s campaign for the February 2022 Assembly elections was built almost entirely around the then Delhi CM Kejriwal and its promise of replicating the “Delhi model” in Punjab. Months ahead of the polls, the party came up with slogans like “Ek mauka Kejriwal nu” (one chance for Kejriwal) and “Kejriwal-Kejriwal, saara Punjab tere naal” (Kejriwal, all of Punjab is with you). These slogans were painted on walls in villages and towns across the state.

After Kejriwal announced Mann as the party’s CM face in January 2022, the slogan was reframed as “Kejriwal-Bhagwant Mann nu dewange ek mauka” (we will give one chance to Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann). However, Kejriwal still spearheaded the party’s campaign, criss-crossing Punjab on the governance plank based on his Delhi model.

The strategy yielded rich dividends for the AAP, which swept the polls, bagging 92 of 117 seats as against the then incumbent Congress’s 18 seats.

2027 challenge

On June 12 this year, Kejriwal announced in Bathinda that Mann will remain the party’s CM face for the 2027 polls. Subsequently, the AAP released a new slogan, “Punjab da eko naara, Bhagwant Mann dobara” (Punjab has only one slogan: Bhagwant Mann again), which has been seen on campaign materials since at its “Lok Milni” or public outreach programmes across the state.

“This is a significant move. On one hand, the Opposition is unitedly seeking Mann’s resignation, but on the other hand the AAP is displaying such banners at its Lok Milni events involving its local leaders and MLAs,” said a BJP leader.

The AAP’s social media platforms have also increasingly started projecting Mann as the party’s tallest Punjab leader, foregrounding him in videos that highlight his government’s achievements during its over four-year tenure so far, which include handing of appointment letters to job aspirants, to cleaning of canals and distribution of ration kits among people.

One of these videos take a swipe at the Opposition leaders for having “ganged up” against Mann, using a line, “Tu ek passe Mann kalla, duje sare kathe ho gaye aa” (you stand alone, Mann, while all others have come together). It shows Mann interacting with crowds, clicking selfies and positioning himself as a lone face pitted against all Opposition leaders including SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, state Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and BJP leader and Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu.

Since 2022, the Opposition parties have consistently accused the AAP’s central leadership of running the Mann government from Delhi. So the party’s bid to project Mann as the central figure of its 2027 poll campaign appears to be an attempt to push back against such a perception and showcase its local leadership.

In some ways, the shift had begun during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when the AAP banked on its campaign slogan, “Sansad vich vi Bhagwant Mann, khushhaal Punjab te vadhegi shaan” (Bhagwant Mann in Parliament too; Punjab will prosper and its pride will rise). The party, however, managed to win only three of 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

Mann’s position within the AAP seems to have been reinforced after the Kejriwal dispensation was voted out of power in the Delhi elections in February 2025. While Kejriwal’s deputy Manish Sisodia was later named Punjab’s party in-charge, Mann has continued to remain its principal leader in the state.

Oppn play

The Opposition leaders claim that the AAP’s bid to bet on Mann for the 2027 polls is “more a compulsion rather than a strategy”.

SAD leader Daljeet Singh Cheema said, “They (AAP) don’t have any option but to project Mann as their leader as he is the sitting CM. People are however watching as to how a political party is challenging the Akal Takht.”

On July 18, Sukhbir Badal announced that the SAD will launch a “Dharam Yudh Morcha” on July 19 under the “patronage” of the Akal Takht to seek Mann’s removal as the CM over the sacrilege video row.

Punjab BJP spokesperson Pritpal Singh Baliawal alleged, “AAP in general and Mann in particular have challenged the Akal Takht, which has never been done in the past… People will teach them a lesson in the polls.”

Congress leader and MLA Bhulath Sukhpal Singh Khaira also hit out at Mann for allegedly “challenging” the Akal Takht, saying it would have ramifications.