Bhagwant Mann, 43, is the president of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab. A noted Punjabi comedian, he is well-known for use of wit and satire in his political speeches.
Mann entered politics in 2011 by joining People’s Party Punjab (PPP) and unsuccessfully contested the 2012 Assembly election from Lehragaga constituency.
He then joined AAP in March 2014 to contest the Lok Sabha election from Sangrur constituency. Mann won by 2,00,000 votes and has since then been the face of AAP in the Parliament. In a telephonic interview with RANJEET JAMWAL, Mann speaks of the role AAP intends to play in Punjab politics post its shocking defeat in the Assembly elections.
Q. AAP hoped to win the Punjab Assembly elections, but lost to the Congress. What’s your assessment of the election?
A. It’s not bad to have hope. So we too were hoping to win the Assembly elections, but we accept the public verdict. There must have been some shortcomings in us or our poll campaign, maybe we could not reach every household. Or maybe it was because of the tricks played by our opponents. Both Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) joined together to defeat us. However, after that we have restructured our party organisation and we are taking feedback from every worker for the changes required in the party organisation. Therefore, we will contest coming elections with all seriousness. The main thing is AAP is just a three-and-a-half-years old party and is the main Opposition party. On the other hand, the 97-year-old party (SAD) has been reduced to just 14 seats in the Assembly. I feel people first wanted to see us play the role of Opposition. Therefore, we will fight for implementation of all the promises they (Congress) have made for total loan waiver, jobs to every household or hike in social security pensions.
Q. Leadership changes have been made post the shocking defeat in Assembly elections. How do you think it will help?
A. We have a proper team now. Sukhpal Khaira is the leader of Opposition, Aman Arora (co-president) is looking after the organisation work and I am overall party president in the state. We have divided Punjab in five zones and district units have also been reconstituted. So we will work for Punjab as a unit.
Q. Punjab has largely seen a twoparty system and the politics has revolved around Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal. How do you see AAP as a third force?
A. Punjab had a two-party system, but at present we are the main Opposition party and the Akali Dal is at number three. We have more Members of Parliament (four) than the SAD (three). So be it in Parliament, Assembly or on the road, we will play the role of the main Opposition with full dedication.
Q. How do you see the five months of the Captain Amarinder Singh government?
A. Capt Amarinder has not come to Punjab even five times in these five months. As head of state, he is not visible and people have no idea about his whereabouts. Even the state Cabinet is not fully formed. There is no agriculture minister in Punjab even as farmers are committing suicide on a daily basis. The same goes for other departments like sports and excise. Capt Amarinder is the home minister and gangsters are on the prowl. They had promised jobs to every household, but not a single job has been given. Be it sand mafia, liquor mafia, transport or cable mafia, the same mafia raj is going on under the Congress government.
Q. Recently an FIR has been filed against an AAP MLA. How do you view it?
A. It’s political vendetta. Are only AAP MLAs corrupt all over India? The only threat is from them. The rest (public representatives) are clean. In Madhya Pradesh, the Congress is raising the issue of farmers, but the party is not doing anything for farmers in Punjab. All these political parties — Congress, Akali Dal and BJP — have joined hands against AAP to create hurdles for our party. This is because we are exposing their scams, sand and land mafia, before the public.
Q. Drug menace is a big issue in Punjab.What’s your view on it?
A. Taking the holy Granth Sahib in his hands, Capt Amarinder had vowed to end the drug menace and drug mafia in Punjab in four weeks and said all involved in the trade will be arrested. But not a single big fish has been netted yet. When there was a demand for CBI investigation against Akali leader Bikram Majithia for involvement in the drug trade, it was Capt Amarinder who opposed it, saying Punjab Police is enough for the job. This shows they all are hand-inglove. The drug trade is still going on in Punjab. If you want to see it, go to the border areas. Drug trade can’t stop by giving advertisements in newspapers. If we are to treat cancer, it can’t be treated with balm, chemotherapy is required.