The Punjab AAP releases all 13 cards, but there is no “queen.”

In today’s Lok Sabha election, the Aam Aadmi Party nominated three of its current MLAs along with a political turncoat. The governing party has announced their candidates for each of the 13 Lok Sabha seats with today’s announcement.

As its candidate from Jalandhar, the party has selected Pawan Kumar Tinu, a two-time former MLA who defected from the SAD to the AAP on Sunday. He will compete against former AAP MP Sushil Kumar Rinku, who joined the BJP after the AAP declared its candidacy for the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat, and former chief minister and Congress candidate Charanjit Singh Channi. This decision has left the AAP furious.

Amansher Singh Sherry Kalsi, Batala MLA from Gurdaspur, Jagdeep Singh, and Ashok Prashar Pappi, MLA from Ludhiana Central, have been fielded. Ferozepur has been fielded by Muktsar MLA Kaka Brar. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has endorsed all three of the candidates. But in the poll, the party has not put forth a single female contender. The party has not maintained a gender balance, with women holding the most number of female MLAs (11 elected from the AAP) and a 47.4% vote share.

Five of the AAP’s ministers, Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer (Sangrur), Gurmeet Singh Khuddian (Bathinda), Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal (Amritsar), Dr. Balbir Singh (Patiala), and Laljit Singh Bhullar (Khadoor Sahib), have run for office. The AAP surged to power in 2022, gaining 92 of the 117 seats. Additionally, it had already granted tickets to two other political traitors: Gurpreet Singh GP, a former Congress MLA who joined the AAP last month, and Dr. Raj Kumar Chabbewal, a current Congress MLA who quit the party.

Malvinder Singh Kang has emerged from student politics, but the party has only nominated one political greenhorn, Karamjit Anmol, the Faridkot candidate.