AAP on Tuesday declared Sangrur MP and former stand-up comic Bhagwant Mann as its candidate for Punjab CM, based on 93% of 21 lakh responses received in a reality show-like telephone poll in which Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu curiously ended up with the second highest votes.
“For many months now, people would ask me, ‘Who is the groom?’ I would tell them that we will give you a face you will be proud of. We had decided to ask 3 crore Punjabis about their choice,” AAP chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said before walking towards Mann to hug him, reports Vibhor Mohan.
Kejriwal said some people voted for him, too, but that wouldn’t count as he was never in the race. “Navjot Sidhu got the second slot (with 3.6 per cent votes).”
Kejriwal claimed all surveys suggested AAP would form the next government in Punjab and Mann was the right person to lead it.
“I have a double responsibility now – the party’s faith in me and that of the people who voted for me (in the feedback poll). When I was a comedian, people would smile at the sight of me. Today, the scenario has reversed, and people begin to cry at public meetings while narrating their state of affairs. I tell them that I can only be a tool to improve their lot,” Mann said.
Mann listed drugs smuggling and unemployment were the primary challenges, besides making farming profitable and creating a congenial atmosphere for business and the return of Punjabi youth who have migrated abroad. “We already do not sleep. If we get the authority we seek, I assure you it will be used for the needy and not any stooges.”
Mann’s younger sister Manpreet Kaur and mother Harpal Kaur said the family was initially reluctant to back his decision to join politics.
BJP said by choosing Mann to be its CM face, AAP had declared its intention of turning Punjab into “a liquor state”, just as Delhi had become one under its government. BJP general secretary Tarun Chugh said Mann had been once censured in the Lok Sabha for being in an allegedly inebriated state.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal declared Mann “a compromise candidate”, with Kejriwal remaining the backroom claimant to the CM's chair.
Born in Satoj village of Sangrur district in 1973, Mann was also an actor before he took the political plunge in February 2012. He lost his first election against former CM Rajinder Kaur Bhattal from Lehra (Sangrur) as a candidate of Manpreet Badal's People’s Party of Punjab. Mann joined AAP ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, which saw him become the Sangrur MP.
(With inputs from agencies)