Before the Punjab Assembly elections 2027, the news of resignation of Aam Aadmi Party’s Samana MLA Chetan Singh Jodamajra has come to light. His name is not in the party’s first candidate list. There is also talk of joining BJP, but it has not been confirmed.
Patiala: Amidst the preparations for the 2027 assembly elections in Punjab, the news of Aam Aadmi Party’s Samana MLA Chetan Singh Jodamajra leaving the party has increased the political stir. It is being told that he has resigned from the primary membership of the party. This development has come to light at a time when Aam Aadmi Party has released the first list of 40 candidates for the assembly elections on October 31. In this list, many sitting MLAs including Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann have been given tickets again, but the name of Jodamajra from Samana seat is not included.
The discussion of differences between Chetan Singh Jodamajra and Aam Aadmi Party was going on for some time. A major reason for this is being said to be the organizational change made by the party in Samana assembly constituency.
In fact, after joining the Aam Aadmi Party, former Akali minister Surjit Singh Rakhra was made the light incharge of Samana assembly constituency. After the appointment of Rakhra, discussion started in local politics that the party can make him a candidate in the 2027 assembly elections.
Questions were also raised on giving the responsibility of the constituency to some other leader while the current MLA from Samana is Jodamajra. However, making Rakhra the light in-charge does not mean that the party has decided to give him the ticket for the assembly elections.
Jodmajra did not find place in the first list of 40 candidates
Aam Aadmi Party released the first list for the Punjab Assembly elections on Saturday, 31 October 2026. In this, names of candidates for 40 assembly seats were announced.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has once again been made a candidate from Dhuri Assembly seat. Whereas Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan has been given ticket from Kotkapura and Sanjeev Arora from Ludhiana West.
The party has given a second chance to all the 40 sitting MLAs in the first list. However, the candidate for Samana seat has not been announced yet. Therefore, Jodamajra’s name not being in the first list cannot be considered as the final confirmation of the ticket being cut.
Samana’s politics changed with the arrival of Surjit Singh Rakhra
Surjit Singh Rakhra is an old name in Punjab politics. He has been associated with Shiromani Akali Dal and has also been a minister in the government of Prakash Singh Badal.
Rakhra had joined the Aam Aadmi Party in May 2026 in the presence of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. After this, in September, the party appointed him light in-charge of Samana.
Rakhra has already represented Samana assembly seat. In such a situation, after his joining Aam Aadmi Party, the discussion about the roles of two prominent leaders of the party had increased at the local level.
Earlier in May, on rumors of leaving the party, Jodamajra had clarified that he stands with the Aam Aadmi Party. Now new news of his resignation has come to light, although independent official confirmation of this has not been received yet.
Will Chetan Singh Jodamajra join BJP?
Discussions have also started regarding Jodamajra’s next political step. There is speculation in local political circles that he may join the Bharatiya Janata Party.
However, at present no official announcement has come from Jodamajra or BJP regarding his joining the party. Therefore, these discussions should be seen only as political speculations for now.
Jodamajra was elected MLA from Samana on Aam Aadmi Party ticket in the 2022 assembly elections. He has also been the Health Minister in the Bhagwant Mann government. Later he was given the responsibility of other departments. He was removed from the post of minister in the cabinet reshuffle in September 2024.
Interest in Samana seat increased before Punjab elections 2027
Assembly elections are to be held in Punjab next year. Aam Aadmi Party has started its election preparations by releasing the first candidate list. But since the name of the candidate for Samana seat has not been declared, political discussion is going on at the local level.
Now it will be important to see who the party nominates as its candidate from Samana. Whether Surjit Singh Rakhra gets the ticket or the party takes some other decision, it will be clear from the upcoming candidate list.
On the other hand, the official position on the speculations of Chetan Singh Jodmajra’s resignation and joining BJP is also yet to be clarified.