Bhagwant Mann has been made president of the Punjab unit of Aam Aadmi Party. The decision was taken at a meeting of the party’s top leaders with Punjab MLAs and other leaders chaired by Arvind Kejriwal, AAP’s national convener and the Delhi chief minister, on Monday evening. Comedian-turned-politician Mann is Lok Sabha member from Sangrur.
Sources said Kejriwal told those present at the meeting that Mann “will not drink now, and will be removed if he does”. The decision was announced by Kejriwal after he claimed a majority view in favour of Mann following one-on-one meetings with the MLAs. The post was earlier called ‘convener’ but will not simply be called president.
NRI supporters of the party had last week written to Kejriwal against making Mann the chief and termed him greedy and narcissistic.
In reaction, the party’s chief whip in the Punjab assembly, Sukhpal Singh Khaira, quit his post despite Kejriwal’s asking him to continue. Mann replaces Gurpreet Singh Waraich ‘Ghuggi’, also a comedian-turned-politician, who is reported to be upset with his unceremonious removal. “The party could have told me to resign over telephone. Why this lengthy exercise?” Ghuggi said after the meeting.
Aman Arora, MLA from Sunam, has been made vice-president. This is purportedly to strike a communal balance — while Mann is a Jat Sikh, Arora is a Hindu face. There was widespread belief that the AAP did not perform well in the Punjab assembly polls held last February as Hindus got worried about its reported ties with Sikh radicals. This was mentioned by some top leaders at the party meeting on Monday too, it is learnt.
Jagraon MLA Sarabjit Kaur Manuke, who comes from a Dalit community, will be made deputy leader of the AAP legislature party.
The decisions will finally be ratified by the party’s highest decision-making body, its political affairs committee (PAC).
AAP won 18 seats, and its alliance partner Lok Insaaf Party won two, in the 117-strong House after initial projections of forming the government. The Congress formed the government with 77 seats while the SAD-BJP alliance was reduced to 18. HS Phoolka of the AAP is the leader of opposition in the Vidhan Sabha.
Source: HindustanTimes