The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Bhagwant Singh Mann is all set to take over as the new CM of Punjab. Mann, the comedian-turned-politician, is presently Lok Sabha MP from Sangrur constituency in Punjab. 48-year-old Bhagwant Mann started off as a comedian and became popular after competing in the Great Indian Laughter Challenge on Star Plus in 2008. He started his political career in 2011 with Manpreet Singh Badal's political party- People's Party of Punjab. He joined AAP ahead of 2014 Lok Sabha polls and emrged victorious from Sangrur parliamentary constituency. He was elected for the second term in 2019 from the same constituency. The AAP conducted televoting to chose the party's chief ministerial candidate in the upcoming state Assembly elections. Mann got 93% of the votes in his favour and AAP declared him the CM candidate. Bhagwant Singh Mann: Key facts about AAP's CM candidate in Punjab
Mann was born on 17 October 1973 to Mohinder Singh and Harpal Kaur in Satoj village of Punjab's Sangrur district. He was interested in comedy from his college days and won two gold medals at the Punjabi University where he studied. He grabbed national attention after participating in the Great Indian Laughter Challenge on Star Plus in 2008.
He plunged into politics in 2011 when he joined Manpreet Singh Badal's People's Party of Punjab. In 2012, he contested Assembly elections from Lehra constituency but could not win the seat. He joined Aam Aadmi Party ahead of the 2014 parliamentary polls and won the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat after defeating Akali Dal candidate Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa by 211,721 votes.
In the 2017 Assembly elections, he contested against Sukhbir Singh Badal from the Jalalabad constituency but lost by 18,500 votes. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he once again contested from Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency and won by 111,111 votes.
He was among AAP's four MPs who won from Punjab in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he was the only candidate of AAP who got elected to the Lok Sabha.
Bhagwant Mann is most likely to contest from the Dhuri constituency in the Sangrur district of Punjab. After being selected as candidate face for CM of Punjab, Mann said he will have to deal with many problems of which major would provide jobs to the youth of the state and to abolish 'Mafia Raj'. Mann also mentioned that his party will win a 2/3 margin of seats. "Do not lose hope, Punjab knows how to overcome difficulties", he said.
Talking about Mann's personal life, he and his wife Inderpreet Kaur parted ways in the year 2015. He is the father of two children who now live abroad.
Bhagwant Mann has courted controversy for alcoholism and in one of his viral videos, he is seen as not being able to walk straight which he defended by saying that he was a social drinker. In 2019, he pledged in presence of his mother Harpal Kaur to quit alcohol as it brought embarrassment to his party.
Whether Balwant Mann becomes the chief minister of Punjab or not will be decided on 20 February when elections for 117 Assembly seats will be held. Initially, the polls were to be held on 14 February but were deferred because of Saint Ravidas Jayanti. The counting of votes will take place on March 10
