According to the sources, the party high-command has given a free hand to Mann to decide his Cabinet colleagues.
Tag: Punjab Elections
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AAP’s Bhagwant Mann meets Punjab Governor to stake claim to form government
By PTI
CHANDIGARH: Aam Aadmi Party leader and Punjab chief minister-designate Bhagwant Mann met Governor Banwarilal Purohit Saturday to stake claim to form the new government in the state.
Mann reached the Raj Bhawan here around 10:30 am.
Mann was elected the AAP’s legislature party leader at a meeting of the party MLAs in Mohali on Friday.
The AAP romped home by winning 92 seats in the 117-member Punjab Assembly.
It decimated the Congress and the SAD-BSP combine and its candidates defeated several stalwarts, including the outgoing chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal and former chief minister Amarinder Singh.
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New Punjab govt will have its task cut out: Former bureaucrat
Express News Service
BENGALURU: A Bengaluru-based former career bureaucrat and AAP leader, who had also served as secretary at Rastrapathi Bhavan, has outlined a roadmap for the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab, where the party put up a phenomenal performance. Delhi, where the party is already in power, and Punjab are vastly different and so are the needs of both states, Renuka Vishwanathan told TNIE.
“Punjab’s economy is full of paradoxes. The state has the highest per capita income, but it also has the highest budget deficit, and is forever seeking special Central funds to keep the government afloat,’’ she explained.
“The best bet is to unleash the forces of good governance, collect every penny that is legally due and spend it thriftily. The removal of corrupt intermediaries has released a budgetary bonanza in Delhi, where the government has launched pro-poor initiatives without raising taxes. The same approach can work wonders in Punjab and give taxpayers the full benefit of current levies,’’ she added.
As for the agriculture sector, Renuka said, “Farms are doubly drought-proofed — there is perennial canal irrigation and this is supplemented with borewell water. Environmentally sound policies are essential to prevent soil degradation and to conserve water. Availability of cheap power for irrigation pumpsets and diesel generators has always been a key concern for the farming community.
My dream project for Punjab is the proliferation of decentralised village-level solar generation units backed up by the grid. It will transfer administrative responsibility from the state power utility to local panchayats which can meet the needs of households, local industries and irrigation pumpsets with cheap power.’’
“Political fireworks can be expected when Mann’s Cabinet fights battles for Minimum Support Price in the coming seasons. The AAP’s move into Punjab will also ensure that the air pollution battle of Delhi will now be fought jointly by its two CMs.’’
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Punjab polls 2022: AAP CM candidate Bhagwant Mann meets Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi
By PTI
NEW DELHI: A day after the Aam Aadmi Party’s stupendous victory in Punjab, its chief ministerial face Bhagwant Mann met Delhi chief minister and party national convener Arvind Kejriwal at his residence here on Friday.
Mann arrived in the national capital this morning. This is Mann’s first meeting with Kejriwal after the assembly election results were declared on Thursday. AAP leader Raghav Chadha, who has been overseeing the party’s Punjab affairs, was also present in the meeting.
The Aam Aadmi Party romped home in 92 of the 117 assembly seats. Mann won from the Dhuri seat by a huge margin of 58,206 votes. Talking to reporters in Sangrur before leaving for the national capital, Mann said he would meet Kejriwal to congratulate him on the party’s victory in Punjab elections.
Mann has said the oath-taking ceremony will be held at Khatkar Kalan, the ancestral village of legendary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh in Nawanshahr district. On the party’s resounding poll victory, Mann said, “The people defeated arrogant persons and they made the common people victorious.”
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Punjab polls: Sidhu Moosewala loses; AAP MLA Aman Arora records highest victory margin
By PTI
CHANDIGARH: Popular Punjabi singer and Congress candidate Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, also called Sidhu Moosewala, faced defeat from the Mansa Assembly seat on Thursday.
Moosewala was defeated by Aam Aadmi Party candidate Dr Vijay Singla by a margin of 63,323 votes.
The singer had joined the party last year.
Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu at that time had touted him as a “youth icon”.
Moosewala hails from Moosa village in Mansa district and his mother is a village head.
In 2017, AAP candidate Nazar Singh Manshahia had won from Mansa.
Manshahia later joined the Congress and was seeking the ticket from Mansa but was denied candidature as the ruling party fielded Moosewala.
Aam Aadmi Party’s sitting MLA from Sunam, Aman Arora recorded the highest victory margin in the Punjab Assembly polls by defeating Congress nominee Jaswinder Dhiman.
Arora won by a margin of 75,277 votes.
Meanwhile, the lowest victory margin was also secured by an AAP candidate.
AAP’s Raman Arora defeated Congress candidate Rajinder Beri by a margin of 247 votes from Jalandhar Central seat.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) stormed to power in Punjab by bagging 92 of 117 assembly seats.
Several party hoppers including Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, Fatehjang Singh Bajwa and Anil Joshi faced defeats in their respective constituencies on Thursday.
Ahead of the assembly polls, several leaders had switched over to other parties including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).
Former sports minister Sodhi was defeated from Ferozepur City seat, according to election results.
AAP candidate Ranbir Singh won from Ferozepur seat by defeating his nearest rival Congress candidate Parminder Singh Pinki.
Sodhi had been a four-time MLA from Guruharsahai in Ferozepur Former Congress leader Bajwa, who had joined the BJP, fought from Batala seat.
He came fourth.
AAP candidate Amansher Singh won Batala seat.
Fatehjang Bajwa was a sitting legislator from Qadian seat from where the Congress fielded his elder brother and Rajya Sabha member Partap Singh Bajwa.
Former Punjab minister Anil Joshi, who quit the BJP and joined the SAD last year, contested from Amritsar North assembly seat.
AAP candidate and former IPS officer Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh defeated Joshi from Amritsar North seat.
Joshi had remained legislator from the Amritsar North seat in 2007 and 2012 on the BJP ticket.
He faced defeat in the 2017 Assembly polls.
Former Congress leader Harjot Kamal, who too had joined the BJP, lost from the Moga assembly seat.
From Moga seat, AAP candidate Amandeep Kaur Arora defeated her nearest rival and Congress candidate Malvika Sood Sachar, who is the sister of actor Sonu Sood.
Former Punjab minister and AAP candidate Joginder Singh Mann lost from Phagwara seat.
Mann had joined the AAP after snapping his 50-year-old ties with the Congress, Congress candidate Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal won from Phagwara.
Sukhjinder Raj Singh Lali Majithia, who joined the AAP after leaving the Congress, lost from Majitha assembly segment.
SAD candidate Ganieve Kaur Majithia won from Majithia seat.
Raman Bahl, who left the Congress last year and joined the AAP, lost from the Gurdaspur seat.
Congress candidate and sitting MLA Barindermeet Pahra won from Gurdaspur.
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AAP emerges as alternative in national politics with its Punjab victory
By PTI
NEW DELHI: With its landslide victory in Punjab assembly polls, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has achieved a major milestone in its journey so far and emerged as an alternative in the national politics.
The party won 92 seats in Punjab, decimating its closest rival Congress to form its government in the state with a three-fourth majority in the 117-member legislative assembly.
The strong AAP wave in Punjab saw many bigwigs trailing and losing — including Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and Congress leader and Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi from both the seats he contested, Chamkaur Sahib and Bhadaur, former chief minister Amarinder Singh who left the Congress to join hands with the BJP, and Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu.
The party also gained some toe hold in Goa winning two seats in the 40-member state legislative assembly, though it could not open its account in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
The AAP had contested on all seats in Punjab, Goa, Uttarkhand and Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, seeking to expand its base beyond Delhi and achieve its stated ambition to become a dominant force in national politics.
Buoyed by its performance in Punjab assembly polls, the party is now aiming to expand its base in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
The party will contest the assembly elections in these two states to beheld next year.
With focus on Gujarat, party plans to hold Punjab victory march in BJP-ruled Gujarat, AAP sources said.
Born out of 2011 anti-corruption movement led by Anna Hazare, the party looks to play a major role in the national politics following its emphatic victory in Punjab assembly polls, with the AAP leaders projecting the party’s national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as an alternative to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The political observers feels that the meteoric rise of the AAP within a decade of its formation will reinforce its status as a challenger to the Congress and the BJP in coming months, provided it lives up to the expectations of people of Punjab, provide a clean government in the state, and fulfil the promises that it made during elections.
The party’s support to the farmers’ agitation against three-farm laws last year, its Delhi model of governance and internal feud in Congress in Punjab led to its victory in Punjab, according to the poll analysts.
“With its victory in Punjab, the AAP has become the only regional party and third party in the country which will have its government in two states. Other two are the BJP and the Congress,” noted political analyst and co-director of Lokniti-CSDS Sanjay Kumar told PTI when asked for his comments.
The AAP will become visible to the voters as an alternative with the party also gaining a toehold in Goa, he said.
“In coming days, party will start seeing the party as an alternative if it provides a clean government in Punjab and make a visible impact with its work as it did in Delhi,” he added.
The people of Punjab have given their mandate to AAP and voted for change, looking at the work done by its government in Delhi, particularly in education and healthcare sectors, Kumar said.
“While the Congress could not gain faith of the people due to internal feud in the party, Akalis (SAD) also could not attract the electors as they had not done anything special during its regime in past.
In such a situation, the AAP was seen as an alternative and people decided to give it a chance,” he added.
Kejriwal and others formed the AAP in 2012, making an exit from the 2011 anti-corruption movement following differences with Anna Hazare and made its debut in electoral politics winning 28 out of 70 seats in Delhi Assembly, and formed its government under Chief Minister Kejriwal with outside support of the Congress in December 2013.
After failing to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill due to lack of numbers in the Delhi Assembly, Kejriwal resigned as chief minister in February 2014 to seek a fresh and full mandate.
Before the re-election in Delhi could be held, the AAP contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and won four seats — all from Punjab.
The party recorded a landslide victory in 2015 Delhi assembly polls winning 67 out of a total 70 seats, with a record vote share of 54 per cent and formed its government.
The AAP created a history once again by winning 62 out of 70 seats in 2020 Delhi assembly polls.
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Punjab polls: CM Charanjit Singh Channi, over half of his ministers lose
By PTI
CHANDIGARH: Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and over half of his ministers have lost from the seats they were contesting as the AAP stormed to power in Punjab on Thursday with an overwhelming majority.
The Aam Aadmi Party scripted history by winning 92 of the 117 assembly seats while the ruling Congress suffered a severe drubbing.
Channi, who contested from Chamkaur Sahib in Rupnagar district and Bhadaur in Barnala, lost from both the seats to AAP candidates.
Channi was the sitting MLA from Chamkaur Sahib.
He had succeeded Amarinder Singh after his unceremonious exit as the chief minister in September last year.
While minister O P Soni was defeated by AAP’s Ajay Gupta from Amritsar Central, Raj Kumar Verka lost to AAP’s Jasbir Singh Sandhu from Amritsar West.
Manpreet Singh Badal suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of AAP’s Jagroop Gill from Bathinda Urban seat.
From Sangrur, Vijay Inder Singla lost to AAP’s Narinder Kaur Bharaj while Bharat Bhushan Ashu lost to AAP’s Gurpreet Bassi Gogi from Ludhiana West.
Randeep Singh Nabha and Gurkirat Singh Kotli lost from Amloh and Khanna seats while Razia Sultana was defeated by AAP’s Mohammed Jamil-ur-Rahman from Malerkotla.
Sangat Singh Gilzian was defeated by AAP’s Jasvir Singh Raja Gill from Urmar seat.
However, seven Congress ministers managed to win.
They are Rana Gurjeet Singh, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Aruna Chaudhary, Pargat Singh, Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria and Amrinder Singh Raja Warring.
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Several turncoats, Cabinet ministers trailing in Punjab as AAP sweeps state
By PTI
CHANDIGARH: Several party hoppers including Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, Fateh Jang Singh Bajwa and Anil Joshi were trailing from their respective constituencies in Punjab, according to poll trends.
The Aam Aadmi Party was leading in 89 out of total 117 assembly seats in Punjab.
Ahead of the assembly polls, several leaders had switched sides.
Former sports minister Sodhi had quit the Congress and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party and contested from Ferozepur City seat.
Sodhi, a four-time MLA from Guruharsahai in Ferozepur, was trailing from Ferozepur seat, the trends showed.
AAP candidate Ranbir Singh was leading from Ferozepur City over his nearest rival and Congress candidate Parminder Singh Pinki.
Former Congress leader Bajwa, who had joined the BJP, and fought from Batala seat was trailing.
Aam Aadmi Party candidate Amansher Singh is leading from Batala seat over his nearest rival and Congress candidate Ashwani Sekhri, according to trends.
Fateh Jang Bajwa was a sitting legislator from Qadian seat from where the Congress fielded his elder brother and Rajya Sabha member Partap Singh Bajwa.
Former Punjab minister Joshi, who quit the BJP and joined the SAD last year, contested from Amritsar North assembly seat.
AAP candidate and former IPS officer Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh was leading over Joshi from Amritsar North seat.
Joshi had remained legislator from the Amritsar North seat in 2007 and 2012 on the BJP ticket.
He faced defeat in the 2017 Assembly polls.
Former Congress leader Harjot Kamal, who too had joined the BJP, fought from Moga assembly seat.
Kamal left the Congress after the party denied him the ticket from Moga.
From Moga seat, AAP candidate Amandeep Kaur Arora was leading over her nearest rival and Congress candidate Malvika Sood Sachar, who is sister of actor Sonu Sood.
Former Punjab minister and three-time MLA Joginder Singh Mann, who joined the AAP after snapping his 50-year-old ties with the Congress, fought from Phagwara seat.
However, Congress candidate Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal was leading over BSP nominee Jasvir Singh Garhi from Phagwara seat.
Sukhjinder Raj Singh Lali Majithia, who joined the AAP after leaving the Congress, tried his luck from Majitha assembly segment.
SAD candidate Ganieve Kaur Majithia is leading from Majithia assembly segment.
Raman Bahl, who left the Congress last year and joined the AAP, fought from Gurdaspur seat.
SAD candidate Gurbachan Singh Babehali was leading over Congress candidate and sitting MLA Barindermeet Singh Pahra from Gurdaspur seat.
Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and most of his Council of Ministers were trailing in their respective constituencies, as per the trends at 12 pm.
Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, who contested from two constituencies, Chamkaur Sahib in Rupnagar district and Bhadaur seat in Barnala, is trailing in both as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidates are leading the race.
Channi is the sitting MLA from Chamkaur Sahib.
Most of Channi’s ministers, who had succeeded Amarinder Singh after his unceremonious exit as the chief minister in September last year, were also trailing.
From Amritsar Central seat, Minister O P Soni was trailing behind AAP’s Ajay Gupta while Raj Kumar Verka was behind AAP’s Jasbir Singh Sandhu from Amritsar West.
Manpreet Singh Badal was behind AAP’s Jagroop Gill from Bathinda Urban seat while from Gidderbaha, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring was trailing behind Akali Dal’s Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon.
From Sangrur, Vijay Inder Singla was trailing behind AAP’s Narinder Kaur Bharaj.
Pargat Singh was trailing behind AAP’s Surinder Singh Sodhi from Jalandhar Cantonment and Bharat Bhushan Ashu was behind AAP’s Gurpreet Bassi Gogi from Ludhiana West.
Razia Sultana was behind her nearest AAP rival Mohammed Jamil-ur-Rahman from Malerkotla seat.
Sangat Singh Gilzian was trailing behind AAP’s Jasvir Singh Raja Gill from Urmar seat.
Ministers Rana Gurjeet Singh, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa were leading.
As per the trends at 12:15 pm, the Aam Aadmi Party appeared to be heading for a clean sweep in Punjab, having taken a lead in 90 of the 117-Assembly seats.
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Punjab polls: Actor Sonu Sood booked in Moga for violating orders
By PTI
CHANDIGARH: Police have booked actor Sonu Sood for violating orders of the Moga additional district magistrate in connection with the model code of conduct.
A case was registered against Sood under section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code on Sunday in Moga district, according to an FIR.
Polling to the 117-member Punjab assembly was held on Sunday.
The Election Commission on Sunday had restrained the actor and philanthropist from visiting polling stations in Moga after receiving complaints that he was allegedly influencing voters.
However, Sood has denied the charges.
Sood’s sister Malvika Sood Sachar, who had joined the Congress last month, had been fielded from the Moga assembly seat.
Sood’s vehicle on Sunday had been impounded by police and a video surveillance team had also been deployed outside his residence.
According to the FIR registered at the Moga Police Station (City), police had got information that Sood was allegedly campaigning for his sister at Landeke village in Moga.
He was found sitting in the vehicle at the village.
By doing so, he had violated the orders of the additional district magistrate, it stated.
Moga Senior Superintendent of Police Charanjit Singh Sohal on Monday said Sood was not supposed to be there and that is why the action has been taken against him.
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Punjab polls: Gangster-turned-activist Lakha Sidhana wants people to read newspapers, open libraries
By PTI
BATHINDA: Gangster-turned-activist Lakha Sidhana is in the fray from the Maur Assembly seat in Punjab’s Bathinda district and appeals to people to read newspapers, pool funds to open libraries while saying he wants to promote the Punjabi language.
Sidhana is one of the accused in the last year’s Delhi Republic Day violence and has been fielded by the Sanyukt Samaj Morcha, a political outfit of various farmer bodies. Forty-two-year-old Sidhana, who is facing several criminal cases, was quite active in the farmers’ agitation against the Centre’s farm laws, which were later repealed.
“I am a fearless person who can raise voice for my people. You all have seen my contribution to the farmers’ agitation,” says Sidhana wherever he goes for campaigning.
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Sidhana invariably mentions the need to promote “maa boli Punjabi” (Punjabi language) and Punjabiyat. He and his supporters had even blackened signboards written in Hindi and English in Bathinda and had asked the authorities to use Punjabi as primary language.
He is demanding Punjabi be made a compulsory subject in all convent schools of the state. During campaigning, Sidhana appeals to villagers to read newspapers and pool funds to open libraries. He also tries to create awareness among people about air pollution and depleting underground water.
He asks people to fight against private healthcare facilities for overcharging patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Police complaints were filed when I made the doctors not charge exorbitantly from the poor. Similarly, I resolved matrimonial disputes where innocent women were harassed by their in-laws,” he claims.
In the same breath, he also does not shy away from discussing his criminal past. “I suffered three bullet injuries during electioneering about a decade ago. After having a brush with death, I realised my blunder. I deeply regret my criminal past,” Sidhana says.
While appreciating AAP’s CM face Bhagwant Mann, he quickly expresses his strong difference with Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal. “Kejriwal wants to control Punjab, whereas we need a leader from our own state for good governance. I admire Bhagwant. But he is powerless before an autocrat like Kejriwal,” he alleges.
Former AAP MP from Patiala, Dr Dharamvira Gandhi, who came out in support of state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu recently, also canvassed for Sidhana.
A supporter, Amarpreet Singh (65), who has come all the way from Uttarakhand to campaign for him, says, “I feel he is the future. He is always worried about the community’s wellbeing. Punjab and Punjabiyat is what he is fighting for.”
His followers and friends remember him as a tireless crusader against drug addiction. They say his fear has resulted in his village being free of drugs. “Perhaps this is the only village in Punjab where synthetic drug is out of reach,” says another supporter Arsh.
Sidhana gets a warm reception from villagers, mostly the youth. He undertakes door-to-door campaigns to greet the elderly. He banks on his role during the farmers’ agitation. At one of the gatherings in Maur, a woman sought votes for Sidhana, saying he was the one who paid the fee for her daughter who is now well settled in Germany.
In 2012, Sidhana had contested his first election unsuccessfully from Rampura Phul Assembly segment as a candidate of People’s Party of Punjab (PPP) that was floated by Manpreet Singh Badal before it was merged with the Congress.
The Shiromani Akali Dal has fielded ex-MP Jagmeet Singh Brar while the Congress party’s candidate is Manoj Bala Bansal and AAP has nominated Sukhveer Singh. The BJP has fielded Dayal Sodhi.