Punjab: Mann hints at stepping down from AAP’s state prez post

Amid speculations, chief minister Bhagwant Mann, on Sunday hinted that there might be a change of guard in Aam Aadmi Party’s Punjab unit in the coming weeks and he is likely to vacate the post of state president.

Talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of a volunteer meet in Mehtiana in the Chabbewal assembly constituency, he said he wanted to quit as the party head as he had innumerable other responsibilities to shoulder as a chief minister.

“I have to look after so many departments. I want someone else to hold the chair of state head so that my responsibilities are shared. Moreover, there are many capable leaders in the party, who should also get an opportunity (to work as president)”, he said, adding that he would talk to the party’s high command to appoint a full-time president.

Mann kick-started the campaign for the Chabbewal assembly bypoll and said that his next mission was to start the promised honorarium of ₹1,100 to every woman in the state.

“The government was in the process of arranging funds for this scheme. We don’t want to initiate a scheme only to roll it back due to paucity of funds. We will start the honorarium once adequate funds are available in the coffers’, he said.

Claiming that AAP would win all four seats in the bypolls, CM took a jibe at opposition parties Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Congress.

Mocking SAD for opting out of byelections, Mann said that the party which dreamt of ruling Punjab “has been completely wiped out.”

“SAD’s fall was imminent. Those who sought votes in the name of Guru Nanak’s takri (scale), committed sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib. Justice has been done to them by the almighty The SAD says it does not want to contest elections without its chief but I feel it could have garnered a few more votes without him,” he said referring to SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Urging the Chabbewal voters to vote for AAP candidate Ishank Kumar, Mann promised unprecedented development of the area. Ishank Kumar’s father Raj Kumar is sitting Hoshiarpur MP.

AAP’s fight is for education, welfare

Later while campaigning for AAP candidate Gurdeep Singh Randhawa in Dera Baba Nanak, Mann said: “We (AAP) fight for your children’s bright future. We have provided free electricity to the people of Punjab and are building good schools and hospitals.”

To reduce fatalities on the roads, he mentioned the formation of a ‘Road Safety Force’ equipped with the latest vehicles, which has led to a 45% reduction in deaths over the last six months.

“In the last two and half years our government has provided jobs to 45,000 youths. Thousands of jobs are also being created in the private sector, with many renowned companies establishing plants in Punjab, including Tata Steel, BMW, Sanathan Textiles, Class, Verbio, and Freudenberg”, he said.

Mann said the abolition of NOCs in registrations of land deeds was a game changer and a relief for the common man who has bought plots in the illegal colonies.

With inputs from HTC, Amritsar