Chandigarh: Former comedian, Bhagwant Mann, who turned out to be an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) hero in less than two months’ time this Punjab polls, on Wednesday smacked of maturity of a politician dreaming to bring back the state’s growth and glory.
Mann, 48, took the oath as the state’s 28th CM by Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit in the presence of AAP national convenor and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and other leaders at Khatkar Kalan, the ancestral village of legendry freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, in district Nawanshahr.
It was on his appeal to make this event a ``people function’’ that it was held at the Bhagat Singh memorial there, and a large number of people had come in ``Basanti’’ (yellow) turbans and dupattas, the colour commonly associated with the revolutionary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.
Making it clear right at the onset of his about 15-minute address, Mann, known in the past for his biting sarcasm against traditional politicians, held that he would not badmouth about anyone or any party on the occasion and would also request all the party workers to win the hearts of every Punjabi irrespective of his political affiliations.
``Hukumat vo karte hain jinka dilon par raaj hota hai, yoon to kahne ko murge ke sar pe bhi taaj hota hai’’, he read a couplet meaning that the actual ruler is the one who wins the heart, as even a rooster has a crown on its head. ``We would not at all be arrogant and would remain humble and accountable to all irrespective of their political affiliations’’, he added.
Striking an emotional chord, Mann exhorted AAP workers, who had come in good numbers to make Punjab what it used to be. ``It is an irony that while our freedom fighters laid their lives for this soil but it is in the wake of the absence of jobs and the deteriorating law and order situation and the drugs spread that our children are running away to the same people abroad from whom we sought freedom’’, he said. It was painful when some of the youths died abroad and their parents had to plead for their bodies, he added.
Asking the gathering to make Punjab the prosperous and glorious state that it used to be he said the AAP rule would now make it so by setting up the infrastructure of good schools and hospitals and opening up avenues for jobs here.
Later in the day, Mann assumed the charge of his office in the chief minister office (CMO) at the Punjab Civil Secretariat here after taking guard of honour from the 82nd Battalion of the Punjab Police at the Civil Secretariat. The chief secretary Anirudh Tewari and DGP Punjab V K Bhawra along with senior IAS officers welcomed him.
