Takes oath as Punjab’s 28th CM heralding a new revolution
History was made on Wednesday with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Bhagwant Mann taking oath as Punjab’s 28th Chief Minister amid the call for heralding a new revolution. Taking oath of office and secrecy on the “land of martyrs” with the venue painted in basanti hue, Mann, in his first speech as the Chief Minister, appealed to the party workers and volunteers to remain “humble” and “modest”.
Since Punjab’s reorganisation in 1966, only the Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had dominated the political scene in the State and this is for the first time that a third party Chief Minister has taken up the State’s reins.
The AAP’s resounding victory with 92 seats — a figure achieved for the first time by any individual party in Punjab — has perhaps heralded a new era in the country’s politics with neither a national nor a regional party winning the elections in Punjab.
“The AAP Government belongs to each and every citizen of Punjab...We are also the CM for those who didn’t vote for us,” he said after Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit administered him the oath of office and secrecy in a mega event held at Khatkar Kalan, the maternal ancestral village of legendary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh in Nawanshahr district.
“Earlier, oath-taking ceremonies were held at palaces or the Raj Bhawan. But I chose to come here because we need to remember Bhagat Singh — not once or twice a year, but every day,” said Mann, who was the only one to take oath during the ceremony, while ending his oath with “Inquilab Zindabad”.
Mann pointed out that we had really got freedom now as the previous Governments, during the past 70 years blatantly, ignored the vision and dreams of our great martyrs like Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh.
“The day of February 20, 2022, would be ever remembered in the annals of Punjab polity as the people exercised their franchise without any influence and coercion, thus paving thr way to fulfil the dreams of legendary martyr,” he said.
Beginning his first speech, laden with couplets “Jo Bole So Nihaal” and “Bharat Mata Ki Jai”, Mann said, “I am overwhelmed with this massive mandate given by the people of Punjab... I will have to be born many times to repay this debt. At the same time, we should be far more responsible now and not be arrogant because ‘pride hath a fall’.”
“Hukummat woh karte hain, jinke dilon par raaj hota hai. Yunh kehne ko toh, murge ke sir par bhi taaj hota hai, (The ones who rule are those who rule hearts, crowns even rest on roosters’ heads),” said Mann while asking the party workers to exercise restraint on the social media against others.
Every word, every sentence in Mann’s “brief” speech had deep meaning. Apart from his assurances of fulfilling the people’s high expectations, the speech also included advice for the party workers.
Fully understanding the significance of getting such a massive mandate, Mann assured the people to start working as soon as he took over the Chief Minister’s chair.
“The AAP is fighting a battle to turn Punjab into what Bhagat Singh had dreamt of. Now we have to work hard and we will do that. With your cooperation, we will find a solution to Punjab’s problems,” he declared.
Mann said Bhagat Singh was not just concerned about India getting its freedom but also the hands it will go into once it is free. “His concerns were valid. We are going abroad to those from whom we took our freedom. We will stay in our country and work for its betterment,” he said.
“It is really pathetic that the youth from the progressive State like Punjab is migrating to foreign shores in search of green pastures.Our Government will strive hard to offer lucrative jobs besides eradicating the menace of corruption and other malpractices in order to provide clean, transparent and good governance,” he said.
Launching an appeal to people to not leave the country, Mann said solutions to all problems - from unemployment to farming to business to schools - will be found.
At the same time, Mann assured the people that they (AAP MLAs) are one among them. “We are with you. We are like you and will remain so,” he said while seeking their cooperation in once again making Punjab vibrant.
Assuring to fulfil each and every promise, Mann said, “We will improve the condition of Punjab from unemployment to agriculture, business, corruption and schools and hospitals. It’s a very complicated job but we’ll figure it out. Just as people from abroad come to Delhi to visit schools and Mohalla clinics; in the same way, they will come to Punjab and take photographs. We will start working on it from today itself. We won’t sit down,” he said.
Evoking Bhagat Singh in his speech, Mann recited his couplet, “Ishq karna sabka paidayishi haq hai, kyun na iss baa watan ki sarjameen ko mehboob bna liya jaaye” (Everyone has a right to love, why not we make our motherland our beloved this time), asking everyone to love our country.