Mohali MLA Kulwant Singh has made the cut in the first list of AAP nominees for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections. The realtor-turned-politician is the only sitting MLA among the three in the district on whom the party has placed its bet early.Singh’s inclusion in the first list of AAP nominees is a clear signal that the party has reposed its faith in him and is confident of his performance in the constituency.Singh had assiduously laid the groundwork by ensuring a victory for his camp in the recent Mohali Municipal Corporation elections. More importantly, he ensured that his son, Sarabjeet Singh Samana, became the Mayor of the civic body.His chosen councillors also enjoy a majority in the House.The father-son duo now has a firm grip on the MLA’s and Mayor’s chairs, leaving the Aam Aadmi Party with very little room to look elsewhere.The party may have many options in Mohali, but very little choice.Whether the Enforcement Directorate’s probe will have any bearing on Kulwant Singh’s candidature from the Mohali Assembly constituency remains to be seen.Reacting to the first list of AAP nominees for the Assembly elections, former Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring quipped, “These 40 candidates are those whom the party thought might switch sides. So, to prevent them from jumping ship, they were named. AAP has a history of changing candidates even after announcing their names.”With just months to go before the polls, Kharar MLA Anmol Gagan Maan is nowhere in the picture, with halqa in-charge Parminder Singh Goldy making his presence felt on the ground and at government- and party-related functions of late.The singer-turned-politician fell out of the Chief Minister’s favour following her outbursts against allegedly corrupt Municipal Council and revenue department officials in her constituency. Despite her concerted efforts, Maan could not get them transferred. This only laid the groundwork for her subsequent fall from the party’s favour.Her repeated tirades appear to have worked against her, as her outbursts seem to have damaged the government’s reputation more than that of the “corrupt officials”.Interestingly, Kharar has elected AAP candidates in each of the last two Assembly elections. However, this time, the burden of anti-incumbency is weighing heavily on the party. Even as the party’s new pick, Parminder Singh Goldy, has been on a ribbon-cutting and foundation-stone-laying spree over the past two to three months, the SAD and BJP have held numerous public gatherings, repeatedly highlighting how the previous two AAP MLAs, Kanwar Sandhu and Anmol Gagan Maan, allegedly abandoned the electorate midway through their terms.Dera Bassi MLA Kuljit Singh Randhawa is on slippery ground, too, as three contenders — Punjab Sewerage Board chairman Jattvibeny Singh Ahluwalia, vice-chairman Subhash Sharma and party leader Gursewak Singh Puadhi — have stepped up their political activities in the constituency. Ahluwalia has attended three functions in Dera Bassi over the past month.Randhawa, who frequently hails Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann as “paaniyan da devta”, will have to do much more to win the party high command’s favour and secure his ticket in the coming days.