Punjab Elections: AAP's CM Candidate Bhagwant Mann To Contest From Dhuri

Bhagwant Mann was named AAP's chief ministerial candidate on Tuesday, 18 January.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

With just a month left for the Punjab Assembly elections, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) announced on Thursday, 20 January, that its chief ministerial candidate Bhagwant Mann will contest the elections from Dhuri constituency in Sangrur district.

The announcement comes two days after declaring Mann as its CM face in the state. After announcing Mann’s Assembly seat in Mohali, AAP’s Punjab affairs co-in-charge Raghav Chadha said, “Mann is a pan-Punjab leader and will campaign for party candidates across the state. We are the only party to go into the polls with a CM face.”

Mann tweeted on Thursday, 20 January, "The party has made it my duty to contest from Dhuri constituency. I have always received a lot of love from the people of Dhuri, the revolutionaries here will win this seat by a big margin and put it in the party's lap."

Currently, the Dhuri constituency is held by Congress MLA Dalvir Singh.

AAP President Arvind Kejriwal had, on Tuesday, 18 January, declared Bhagwant Mann as the party's chief ministerial candidate ahead of the Assembly elections.

Who Is Bhagwant Mann?

Mann has been a member of AAP since 2014 and is a Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Sangrur constituency of Punjab. From 2012 to 2014, he had been a member of Manpreet Badal's People's Party of Punjab.

Born on 17 October 1973 in Sangrur district’s Satoj village, Mann is a well-known Punjabi comedian and actor with a reasonably clean image, and is seen as 'outside the political elite.'

Known for his sense of humour and use of satire to drive his point home on the television show 'The Great Indian Laughter Challenge,' and later, in his parliamentary debates, Mann had proved his political mettle after being the only AAP leader to have won a seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, from the Sangrur constituency.

The Assembly elections in Punjab will be held on 20 February, and the votes will be counted on 10 March.

(With inputs from ANI.)