laughter may not be the best medicine for political maladies in Punjab but Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is contemplating to field two of its comedian-turned-politicians against the Akali stalwarts — the jija-sala duo of Sukhbir Badal and Bikram Majithia.
AAP’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday announced party’s Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann’s candidature from Jalalabad — the home constituency of Deputy Chief Minister and the SAD president Sukhbir Badal — while addressing his first of the 21 rallies he was scheduled to address during his 11-day tour starting Sunday.
The Delhi Chief Minister also took to the micro-blogging website, Twitter, to announce that Mann will contest against Sukhbir Badal in 2017 polls. Elected with the highest number of votes during 2014 elections from Sangrur segment, Mann had dared Sukhbir to take a dope test in December 2015.
At the same time, the name of party’s state convener Gurpreet Singh Waraich (Ghuggi) was doing the rounds for contesting from Majitha assembly segment against Sukhbir’s brother-in-law and state Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia. However, it was neither confirmed nor denied by the party.
“We want our popular leaders to give a fight to the stalwarts of state politics like Sukhbir, Majithia, Capt Amarinder, Chief Minister (Parkash Singh) Badal and others. Mann was polled highest number of votes and his popularity is unmatched while Sukhbir’s graph is going down…AAP would not have better choice than Mann to field against Sukhbir,” a senior AAP leader, requesting anonymity, told The Pioneer.
The AAP leader also maintained that the party is mulling Ghuggi’s name from Majitha, while adding that it was yet to be finalised.
Kejriwal, addressing his first rally on Sukhbir’s political home-turf, asked the gathering if Mann should contest against Sukhbir Badal. The people who turned out in huge number, replied with a thunderous applause immediately to give approval to the proposal.
In fact, Kejriwal asked people thrice if Mann should contest against Sukhbir Badal and each time people replied in cheerful manner by saying, “Yes, Mann should contest against Sukhbir Badal”.
Immediately after that, Kejriwal also proposed that in case Sukhbir Badal changes his mind to contest from any other constituency and should Bhagwant Mann also follow him to contest from there and crowd responded positively.
Mann, who was standing close by, humbly accepted Kejriwal’s proposal and declared that he was ready to contest against Sukhbir Badal from wherever he will contest the assembly election.
“In AAP, it is a trend set up by Kejriwal, who have defeated former Delhi Chief Minister Sheela Dixit two times in consecutive manner, and I feel honoured that this opportunity in Punjab has given to me,” Mann said.
“I also invite Capt Amarinder Singh to contest assembly election against Sukhbir Badal, instead of contesting from his traditional seat, to know whether people of Punjab accept him as their leader,” Mann dared the state Congress chief.
The Sukhbir-Majithia duo has to their credit the tag of ‘election game-changers’ for their smart political skills and ability to formulate astute strategies, and wining over the dissenters. Political observers attributed SAD-BJP combine’s victory in 2012 assembly to the duo.
On the other hand, AAP’s move to field Mann and Ghuggi against the two is also being seen as its compulsion following the absence of “big names” and prominent faces.
The party, it seems, believed that just as Mann proved a success in 2014 polls, the two humourists’ duo may turn wonders for AAP. But in the process, it has paid no heed to the “negative” role Mann played for the party in the recent past.
Dubbed as ‘controversy’s child’, Mann is currently suspended from the lok Sabha for live-streaming the security arrangements at the Parliament House complex on social media. AAP MP had defended his move saying that he was only showing people how Parliament functioned.
He had also demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's expulsion for compromising on national security for allowing Pakistan's security agency inside the Pathankot airbase after the terror attack on the facility.
later, his fellow parliamentarians had urged the lok Sabha Speaker to send Mann to the rehabilitation centre for “drugs and alcohol de-addiction” at the House’s expenditure.
Before that too, Mann was alleged to be drunk during a media briefing at Chandigarh Press Club. He was hurled by the crowd for coming drunk in a religious ceremony in the memory of two men killed in police firing at Bargari village, among others.