Discussions have intensified about holding assembly elections in Punjab in November this year instead of February next year. Discussion on this issue started in political circles when Aam Aadmi Party national convenor and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal expressed the possibility of early elections during a roadshow organized in Bathinda.

Addressing party workers, Kejriwal said that he has received information that assembly elections in the state can be held only in the month of November. He appealed to the workers to start preparing for the elections from now on.

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Also said that if this happens then only 4 months will be left for the elections. He appealed to the public to make Bhagwant Mann the Chief Minister again.

Harpal Cheema also reiterated the point

After Kejriwal’s statement, Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema also expressed the possibility of early elections. He said that elections can be held in the state soon and cited the SIR process as one of the reasons for this.

He said, “In whichever state SIR has been conducted, elections have been conducted within 40 days of SIR.” Cheema claimed that the Aam Aadmi Party is fully prepared for elections at any time. He said that the entire party team and ministers are continuously working among the people.

He said, “When elections are held as per our wish, we are ready. Where BJP cannot reach power directly, it tries to reach power through SIR and vote theft, but it will not succeed in Punjab. BJP has failed in Punjab. People have understood that BJP spreads hatred and because of this, inflation has increased.”

Congress said- whenever elections are held, we are ready

On speculations of early elections, Punjab Congress President Amarinder Singh Raja Wadding said that any political party should always be ready for elections. He said that Congress is also fully prepared. Wadding said, “Even if elections are held tomorrow, Congress is ready for the elections.”

BJP targeted you

Meanwhile, Punjab BJP leader Anil Sarin took a dig at the statements of Aam Aadmi Party leaders. He said that the kind of statements that are coming out, it seems that the Aam Aadmi Party is in a hurry to go from power in Punjab.

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At present, no official announcement has been made by the Election Commission regarding the dates of assembly elections, but the statements of political parties have definitely heated up the electoral atmosphere in the state politics.

Bhagwant Mann government of Punjab presented its last budget before the elections. Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema today (08 March) presented the state’s budget of Rs 260437 crore for the financial year 2026-27. Through this budget, the Aam Aadmi Party government has announced to fulfill the guarantee of giving Rs 1000 per month to women at the time of elections.

In the budget, the government has announced the implementation of ‘Mukhyamantri Maanva Dhiyan Satkar Yojana’. Under this scheme, women will be given one thousand rupees every month. Women above 18 years of age in the state will get one thousand rupees per month under this scheme.

Rs 1500 every month to SC women

Existing government employees or retired government employees, women and women paying income tax will not get benefits under this scheme. Women taking other government schemes like old age pension, widow pension, disability pension will get money under this scheme. Under this scheme, women from SC category will get Rs 1500 per month.

When will the registration process start?

The government has kept Rs 9300 crore for expenditure on this scheme in the financial year 2026-27. The Finance Minister has announced that the registration process for this scheme will start from April 13 on the occasion of Baisakhi. However, the government has not yet clarified when it will start giving money. Officials have said on the condition of anonymity that the government will give money to the beneficiary women from the month of April, hence those who are registered will get the money from the month of April onwards.

Punjab Finance Minister cornered Haryana Government

In his budget speech, the Finance Minister has also indirectly targeted the Haryana government. He said that many states have promised to announce similar schemes, but they limit it to a small section of women, while ignoring a large section of women who are financially dependent on men for their basic needs.

Giving an example, the Finance Minister said that one of our neighboring states announced a similar scheme, but limited it only to families with an annual income of less than Rs 1 lakh, in which only 20 per cent of all adult women could participate. “The Punjab government will not give in to such statements and has decided to become the first state to ensure that all adult women are covered under the scheme,” he said.