Work for all those places where we went to seek votes, says Mann

Punjab’s new Chief Minister-elect Bhagwant Mann said on Friday in his first instructions to the Aam Aadmi Party’s new MLAs, a day after the party’s landslide victory in the state. Spend as much time as possible in your constituencies, not in the capital, Chandigarh, and don’t aspire to cabinet positions. 

“We have to work for all those places where we went to seek votes. All MLAs must work in the areas from where they have been elected, not just stay in Chandigarh,” Bhagwant Mann stated this after being elected state leader of the AAP Legislative Party, a formality ahead of his swearing in ceremony on Wednesday.

“Aside from the Chief Minister, we can have 17 cabinet ministers. There is no need for anyone to be unhappy. You’re all cabinet ministers, He told the 92 MLAs in attendance, including himself.

This happened just one day after the AAP won a landslide victory in the polls, capturing 92 seats in the 117-member Assembly. The party’s chief ministerial candidate, Bhagwant Mann, won the Dhuri seat by over 58,000 votes.

Bhagwant Mann, who had just returned from Delhi after meeting with the party’s national convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, claimed that numerous programmes and guidelines would be brought to Punjab from Delhi.

“We’ll do it as well.” A good piece of advise can come from anywhere, including Madhya Pradesh. We will also provide a lot of advise. Our primary goal is to put the country first. We must prioritize the country. “Bring me your suggestions,” Mann said.

Bhagwant Mann, speaking to the newly-elected MLAs, urged them not to be arrogant and to work for even those who had “not voted for the party.”

“I appeal to all of you not to be arrogant. Work even for those who have not voted for you. You are the MLAs of the Punjabis. They have elected the government,” he said.

“Don’t get into ‘parcha’ culture (filing FIRs against opponents). Just forgive them,” he added.

In the polls, AAP matched Punjab’s 60-year record for the most seats gained by a single party, sending giants from all party’s home with pink slips, including incumbent Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Congress state chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, and former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh.

Bhagwant Mann paid a visit to party president Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi earlier today after his party’s historic victory in the Assembly elections. He also invited Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to the swearing-in ceremony, which is set for March 16.

Mann had already announced that the MLAs’ names would be written in gold letters. He also informed them that Kejriwal will visit Punjab on March 13 to express his gratitude and pay his respects at the Golden Temple.

“You have won a significant win. Many of you have won by large margins, while others have won by smaller margins. There will be no discrimination based on the fact that someone won by a smaller margin,” he said.

“Those who used to refer to themselves as khaandaani politicians and believed that no one else could win except them have been forced to stay at home. Because the general population has the ability to transport a human to the skies and then return him to Earth,” he added.

Parkash Singh Badal, Sukhbir Singh Badal, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Bikram Singh Majithia, Adesh Pratap Singh Kairon, Capt Amarinder, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, and Raj Kumar Verka are among those who lost elections, as per Mann. “How did we defeat them?” Neither Bhagwant Mann nor any of the rest of us. “They were defeated by the people,” he continued, before concluding his speech with Inquilab Zindabad.

Also Read: Punjab Polls 2022: Aam Aadmi Party's spectacular win in Punjab