Two sitting Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs in Punjab, Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra and Chetan Singh Jouramajra, resigned from the party’s primary membership on Sunday, 1 November 2026, a day after the party released its first list of candidates for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections. Both men represent constituencies in Patiala district — Pathanmajra from Sanaur and Jouramajra from Samana — and neither featured in the first list of 40 candidates.
What happened
Pathanmajra sent his resignation letter to AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, saying it would take effect immediately. “I hereby submit my resignation from primary membership of Aam Aadmi Party with immediate effect,” he wrote. Jouramajra announced his decision in a social media post, writing: “I, Chetan Singh Jora Majra, resign from the primary membership of the Aam Aadmi Party.”
Both MLAs confirmed their resignations to The Indian Express. “I have resigned. Rest I will tell later,” Pathanmajra said. Jouramajra said: “I have resigned. I don’t have my heart into the party. Situation of Punjab is heartbreaking. We will talk later.”
The two legislators are due to address a press conference at the Chandigarh Press Club at 4:30 pm on Sunday, where they are expected to explain their reasons in more detail. Until that briefing, neither has publicly given a detailed reason for quitting beyond the brief statements above.
Why now: the first candidate list
The timing points directly to the candidate announcement. On Saturday, 31 October, the ruling AAP released its first list of 40 candidates for the Punjab Assembly elections due early next year, becoming the first major party in the state to declare names. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced the list in Delhi after a meeting of the party’s Political Affairs Committee, and Mann himself was fielded from his current Dhuri constituency.
Neither Pathanmajra nor Jouramajra was on that list, and the party has not yet announced its candidates for either Sanaur or Samana. Reports also note that the party had earlier appointed new constituency in-charges in both seats — Ranjod Hadana for Sanaur and Surjit Singh Rakhra for Samana — a move that had already fuelled speculation that the two sitting MLAs might not be renominated.
The Indian Express described the double exit as the first major political fallout from AAP’s candidate selection process in Punjab, and the first major wave of internal rebellion since the initial list was released. For a party trying to present its early announcement as a tactical advantage, the resignations have instead brought discontent within its ranks into the open.
Who are the two MLAs?
Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra, Sanaur
Pathanmajra, a first-time MLA from Sanaur, had become a prominent dissident voice after publicly criticising the party’s Delhi leadership, according to The Indian Express. His standing with the central leadership was already severely strained.
He has also been at the centre of a controversy after a case was registered against him. The Punjab Police registered a case on 1 September 2025 on charges of rape, cheating and criminal intimidation, and he was later arrested after returning to India to join the investigation. The Indian Express reports that he is currently out on bail.
Chetan Singh Jouramajra, Samana
Jouramajra, the Samana MLA, is a former Cabinet minister in the Bhagwant Mann government. He was dropped from the Council of Ministers during a Cabinet reshuffle, a setback that reports say left him unhappy.
The Indian Express also links his removal to a public controversy involving renowned orthopaedic surgeon Dr Raj Bahadur. The dispute erupted after Dr Bahadur, then Vice-Chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, was made to lie on a dirty mattress at a government hospital during a ministerial inspection.
Why it matters
The resignations matter for three reasons. First, they cut into AAP’s image of discipline just as it begins its re-election campaign in a state it won by a landslide in 2022, taking 92 of the 117 Assembly seats while the Congress was reduced to 18.
Second, they raise a practical question for the party’s candidate strategy. With new in-charges already in place in Sanaur and Samana, AAP must now decide whether those appointments were the first step towards new candidates, or whether the resignations force a rethink.
Third, the exits come at a sensitive moment for the party in Punjab more broadly. The killing of the son of an AAP sarpanch in Amritsar recently put the party’s Punjab unit under scrutiny over law and order, and the leadership will want to avoid a narrative of a party losing control of its own ranks as the election approaches.
What happens next
The immediate next step is the press conference at the Chandigarh Press Club, scheduled for 4:30 pm on Sunday. That briefing may clarify whether the two MLAs intend to join another party, contest as independents, or simply step back.
There is already speculation that both men could join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with reports suggesting a possible move during a BJP meeting in Chandigarh later on Sunday. That speculation has no official confirmation, and neither MLA has confirmed any such plan. Until they speak, it should be treated as speculation, not fact.
AAP, for its part, has not yet announced candidates for Sanaur or Samana, and has not publicly responded in detail to the resignations in the reports published so far. The party’s next list, and the two MLAs’ own statements, will show whether this is an isolated fallout from the first list or the start of a wider rebellion.
Timeline
- 2022: AAP wins a landslide in the Punjab Assembly elections, taking 92 of 117 seats.
- 1 September 2025: Punjab Police register a case against Pathanmajra on charges of rape, cheating and criminal intimidation.
- Before the first list: AAP appoints new constituency in-charges in both seats — Surjit Singh Rakhra for Samana and Ranjod Hadana for Sanaur.
- 31 October 2026: AAP releases its first list of 40 candidates for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections; neither Pathanmajra nor Jouramajra is on it.
- 1 November 2026: Pathanmajra resigns from AAP’s primary membership by letter to Arvind Kejriwal; Jouramajra announces his resignation in a social media post. Both confirm their decisions to The Indian Express.
- 1 November 2026, 4:30 pm: The two MLAs are scheduled to address a press conference at the Chandigarh Press Club.
Frequently asked questions
Which two Punjab MLAs resigned from AAP?
Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra, the MLA from Sanaur, and Chetan Singh Jouramajra, the MLA from Samana, both in Patiala district. Both resigned from the party’s primary membership on Sunday, 1 November 2026.
Why did they resign?
Neither has yet given a detailed public reason. The resignations came a day after AAP released its first list of 40 candidates for the 2027 Punjab elections, a list that did not include either man, after the party had already appointed new constituency in-charges in both seats.
Have they joined the BJP?
No official confirmation exists. Reports say both are likely to join the BJP and speculate about a move at a Chandigarh meeting on Sunday, but neither MLA has confirmed that plan.
When are the Punjab Assembly elections?
The elections are due in early 2027, with polling expected around February–March, alongside elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur. The five-year term of the 117-member Punjab Assembly ends on 16 March 2027, and the Election Commission is yet to announce the polling schedule.
How many seats did AAP win in Punjab in 2022?
AAP won 92 of the 117 seats in the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections, while the Congress won 18 seats.
What happens to their Assembly seats?
The confirmed resignations are from AAP’s primary membership. The reports published so far do not confirm any resignation from the Assembly itself, and that question may be clarified at the MLAs’ press conference.
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