PROFILES
Seen invariably donning a yellow turban and shouting slogans such as inquilab zindabad (long live revolution) at public rallies, Bhagwant Mann, the 48-year-old former comedian has just done what was seen impossible until a few years ago. He led the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to power in Punjab, defeating three mainstream parties — the ruling Congress, the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The AAP, founded in 2012 by Arvind Kejriwal who came to power in Delhi in 2015, swept the Punjab elections with 92 seats out of 117. Mr. Mann won from the Dhuri constituency by a margin of over 58,000 votes. He will be sworn in on March 16 at a ceremony in Khatkar Kalan, the ancestral village of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh. The new government of Punjab “will be run from villages and mohallas instead of palaces and farm houses,” Mr. Mann said. “People from houses across Punjab will come to the [swearing-in] ceremony, they will also pay tribute to Bhagat Singh. We will have a good Cabinet, historic decisions —that were never made before — will be made. So, you will have to wait,” he said after meeting the Governor.
