Bhagwant Singh Mann, who took oath on Wednesday as the 28th Chief Minister of Punjab, encapsulated in three slogans the content of his politics and governance ambitions — Inquilab Zindabad, a call for revolution; Sat Sri Akal, the Sikh clarion call for the triumph of truth; and, Bharat Mata Ki Jai. A masterful combination of regional and national emotions, claims of a higher morality amid decadence, and the promise of radical change were what made the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) the overwhelming choice of Punjab voters. The party won 92 of the 117 seats, overthrowing the feudal families that have held the State in a vice grip, even as its people plunged into desperation and hopelessness. Several of AAP’s MLAs hail from the most ordinary of backgrounds. Mr. Mann, a comedian-turned-politician, at 48, has taken over a traumatised State that is crying for a new life. Its farm sector is flailing, in economic and ecological terms. Its youth are leaving in hordes, and drug abuse continues to corrode society. The State’s finances are in tatters. Mr. Mann inherits this mess, and the people have trusted him with the task of rescuing them. As the new CM has noted, there is no time to lose. He has begun well, by announcing an ambitious anti-corruption mechanism and calling upon AAP workers to remain humble and close to the people.
Mr. Mann’s performance as Chief Minister will be watched outside Punjab too. As a border State with a volatile history, there are unique governance challenges. With little experience in government, his task is cut out — to learn the ropes quickly. He will be watched also for the reason that AAP is claiming to have become the only viable challenger to the BJP at the national level. The party has been in power in Delhi for seven years, but Punjab is the first full-fledged State that comes under its command. If he can steer it ahead, and well, his party’s claims at the national level will be bolstered; if he falls short, the ambitions of AAP and its founder-leader and Delhi CM, Arvind Kejriwal, will be affected. Since his performance will be so closely tied to the fortunes of his leader — whose feet he touched when they met after the Punjab victory — Mr. Mann will be under scrutiny from that angle too. Meanwhile, implementing AAP’s election promises will add a new burden on the State’s finances. For a distressed population, AAP’s Delhi model, which it promises to replicate in Punjab, will be comforting. Mr. Mann is a breath of fresh air, and a ray of hope at many levels. He, however, faces the challenge of running a government and sustaining a politics supposedly without any ideological outline on a platform of corruption-free governance and high-cost welfare schemes. The AAP government in Punjab will be a test for the party and, if it succeeds, a model that others might seek to copy across the country.
