With the Punjab Assembly elections round the corner, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party has inducted Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann and Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema into its 10-member Political Affairs Committee (PAC), the party’s highest decision-making body.Former Delhi minister and co-incharge of party affairs in Punjab, Satyendar Jain, has also been inducted as a member of the PAC. Mann, who was earlier a special invitee to the committee by virtue of being Chief Minister, is now a permanent member.Interestingly, two party functionaries involved in administrative work in Punjab — Rajbir Ghuman, OSD to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, and Bibhav Kumar — have been inducted into the 23-member National Executive.Ghuman’s name has recently cropped up in the Enforcement Directorate investigation into the alleged “cash for transfer and land fraud” case that has rocked state politics.The appointments give Punjab’s leadership a direct role in decision-making on organisational strategy, candidate selection and campaign planning. Cheema’s inclusion adds another senior voice from the Mann government to the party’s top decision-making body.The appointments underline the importance of Punjab for the AAP. With the party out of power in Delhi, Punjab remains its principal large-state government and its most important electoral showcase.The party is preparing to defend its 2022 victory, when it won 92 seats, amid anti-incumbency, employee unrest and a resurgent opposition comprising the Congress, BJP, Shiromani Akali Dal and other Akali factions.Mann’s permanent place in the PAC gives him a formal role in shaping the election strategy and allows greater coordination between the party’s national leadership and the Punjab government. This will be important as the AAP seeks to highlight its record while responding to criticism over unemployment, drugs, fiscal constraints and other governance issues.Jain’s induction into the PAC is also expected to strengthen coordination between the party’s Punjab organisation and its central leadership.The appointments suggest that the AAP is treating the coming election as a competitive contest rather than assuming that its 2022 mandate will automatically translate into a second term.