New Delhi: Punjab Chief Minister-elect Bhagwant Mann on Saturday will meet Governor Banwarilal Purohit to stake claim to form government in the state after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) registered a landslide victory in the state Assembly elections.
On Friday, Bhagwant Mann was elected as the leader of the AAP Legislative Party in the state. Soon after this, Mann called a meeting of the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police at his residence in Chandigarh.
“We have formally elected Bhagwant Mann as our leader,” AAP leader Aman Arora said. Bhagwant Mann will be sworn in as Punjab chief minister on March 16 at Khatkar Kalan, the ancestral village of legendary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh in Nawanshahr district.
After AAP swept Punjab on Thursday, Mann had announced that the new Cabinet would take oath of office at Khatkar Kalan, the ancestral village of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district, and not at the Raj Bhavan. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is likely to attend the oath-taking ceremony.
Addressing the newly-elected MLAs, Bhagwant Mann appealed to all of them not to get arrogant and work for even those who have “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,” Bhagwant Mann said.
The Chief Minister-elect instructed the MLAs to not stay in Chandigarh and work in the areas from where they have been elected. “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,” Mann said.
Bhagwant Mann, who dons Bhagat Singh’s trademark ‘basanti’ (yellow) turban, also said that no government office will carry photographs of the Chief Minister. Instead, photos of Bhagat Singh and B.R. Ambedkar will be put up on the walls of all government offices.
Meanwhile, outgoing Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi met Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit in Chandigarh on Friday and submitted his resignation.
The AAP recorded a thumping win in the Assembly polls by winning 92 of the 117 seats. The ruling Congress won 18 seats, a massive decline from 77 it had won in 2017, while the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) could manage only three seats. Bhagwant Mann won from Dhuri by a margin of over 58,000 votes.
(With inputs from Agencies)
