From comedian to CM face, Mann has come a long way
Chandigarh: From a standup comedian to the CM face of Punjab, Bhagwant Singh Mann has covered an incredible journey in a little over a decade.
With an AAP Tsunami sweeping Punjab polls, Mann (48), a two-time parliamentarian from Sangrur who won Assembly poll from Dhuri segment of his Lok Sabha seat, is set to become his party's second CM in the country after Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi.
The AAP Convenor Arvind Kejriwal had announced Bhagwant Mann as the party's CM face for Punjab on January 19 after a phone-in poll in which the party claimed that 93 per cent of over 21 lakh voters chose him to lead Punjab.
Son of a schoolteacher from Satoj village of Sangrur district, Mann became a name in the field of comedy while he was still pursuing his graduation, as his audio cassettes became famous among people.
Through his social and political satires, Mann became an unquestionable comedy king of Punjab with his popular TV shows.
However, Bhagwant Mann bid goodbye to comedy when he was at the peak to contest assembly poll from Lehragagga against former CM Rajinder Kaur Bhattal as a candidate of Parkash Singh Badal's estranged nephew Manpreet Singh Badal's newly launched Punjab People Party (PPP) in 2011.
Mann, however, lost his first election to Bhattal.
While Manpreet Badal chose to join Congress in 2014 after his party's poor performance at the hustings, Mann preferred Arvind Kejriwal's AAP over Congress.
The comedian-turned politician has never looked back since then. He won Lok Sabha election in 2014 and 2019 from Sangrur parliamentary seat, and is now set to occupy the top post in Punjab.
Addressing people at Dhuri after the party's victory on Thursday, Mann termed AAP victory as "Punjab Nu Punjab Banaun Di Ladai (a battle to regain the lost glory of Punjab)".
Mann drew cheers from the crowd as he announced that his oath-taking ceremony will be held at Khatkarkalan in Nawanshahr district, the ancestral village of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.
Amid cheers from the crowds, Mann underlined the magnitude of AAP victory saying, "Bade (Parkash Singh) Badal Sahib has lost, Sukhbir (Badal) has lost from Jalalabad, Captain has lost from Patiala, Sidhu and Majithia are also losing, (Charanjit Singh) Channi has lost on both the seats."
Mann said his priorities as CM will be schools, health, industry, making agriculture profitable, the safety of women, and improving sports infrastructure.
"Youths who have syringes in hands for drugs will soon hold tiffin to go to work," he said while promising jobs to youths.
"You will start seeing the change in Punjab within one month," he promised.
Appealing to people to work together, Bhagwant Mann said those who did not vote for the AAP need not worry as the government will work for all sections of the society.
