After the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) achieved a landslide victory in the 20222 Punjab Assembly election, the party’s chief ministerial face Bhagwant Mann said the oath-taking ceremony of the new cabinet would be held at Khatkarkalan in Nawanshahr district, the ancestral village of legendary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.
“I will take oath as the chief minister in Bhagat Singh’s village Khatkarkalan, not at the Raj Bhawa,” Mann said addressing party workers and supporters at Dhuri, his constituency.
Mann defeated Congress candidate and sitting MLA Dalvir Singh Goldy by a margin of 58,206 votes.
He also said no government office would have photographs of previous chief ministers – normally a standard feature in administrative buildings in the country – but would instead photos of Bhagat Singh and Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar.
“The chief minister will work for entire Punjab, not for a party. Every Punjabi will get benefit of governance. My first aim is to provide more employment opportunities. We will save youth of Punjab, which is frustrated due to unemployment,” he added.
Mann underlined the significance and scale of the AAP’s win by pointing out that several heavyweights had been voted out by the people, including four-time former chief minister and Akali Dal founder Parkash Singh Badal, veteran politician Amarinder Singh, sitting chief minister Charanjit Channi (from two seats) and popular cricketer-politician Navjot Sidhu.
“Bade (Parkash Singh) Badal Sahib has lost, Sukhbir (Badal, Parkash Badal’s son and former deputy chief minister) has lost from Jalalabad, Captain (Amarinder Singh) has lost from Patiala, (Navjot) Sidhu and (Bikram) Majithia are also losing, (Charanjit) Channi has lost both seats,” Mann rattled off.
He said his focus would be on schools, healthcare, industry, and making the agriculture sector profitable, as well as on the safety of women and improving sports infrastructure.
Mann thanked AAP boss Arvind Kejriwal for touring the state despite ill health.