New Delhi, September 17, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The newly constituted Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) held its first meeting on Thursday under the leadership of party National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal, with preparations for the upcoming elections in Punjab, Goa and Gujarat among the key issues discussed.
The meeting, held at Kejriwal’s residence, was attended by newly inducted Punjab members of the PAC, including Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann and Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema. Senior AAP leader and Punjab in-charge Manish Sisodia later briefed the media on the discussions.
Sisodia said the party discussed its electoral preparations in the three states and claimed that people in Punjab wanted the Bhagwant Mann-led government to return, while voters in Goa and Gujarat were seeking a change in government.
He also highlighted AAP’s recent performance in Rajasthan’s Baran Municipal Council elections. AAP won 31 of the 60 seats, while Congress secured 18 and BJP nine.
Describing the Baran result as an indication of growing support for an alternative to the BJP, Sisodia said Kejriwal, Mann and he would soon visit Baran and hold a roadshow.
“Very soon, National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal, CM Bhagwant Mann and I will travel to Baran in Rajasthan and hold a roadshow there,” he said.
On Punjab, Sisodia said the party was fully prepared for the Assembly elections and claimed that people were satisfied with the work of the Mann government and wanted to see Mann continue as Chief Minister.
He also alleged that a return of the “old parties” would lead to a revival of issues such as drugs, corruption and misuse of public funds. These were political allegations made by Sisodia and were not independently established in his remarks.
The PAC also discussed the recent changes concerning charges on certain UPI transactions. Sisodia criticised the move and alleged that it had been taken under pressure from US President Donald Trump and would benefit American companies.
Recent regulatory changes have limited the statutory protection against charges on UPI transactions to payments up to Rs 2,000, opening the possibility of fees on higher-value transactions. The government has not announced a blanket fee on all UPI payments, while reporting has said the new framework concerns merchant transactions above the threshold.
Sisodia argued that consumers should not have to bear additional costs for using their own money and said AAP would raise the issue politically.
Another issue discussed at the PAC meeting was alleged manipulation of electoral rolls in the New Delhi Assembly constituency during the 2025 Delhi Assembly elections.
Sisodia referred to earlier allegations by AAP that large numbers of voter applications had been submitted from addresses associated with BJP leaders. In January 2025, AAP had raised the matter with the Election Commission, while the poll panel said the applications would be examined and the BJP rejected the allegations.
Sisodia claimed that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) had subsequently identified a large number of such entries as fake and said AAP would watch how the Election Commission responds to the matter. The specific claim that 40 per cent of the allegedly added votes were found to be fake could not be independently established from the sources reviewed.
Sisodia said the PAC was constituted after the AAP National Council and National Executive meetings held recently, with Kejriwal appointed as its convenor and new members inducted into the committee.
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