No, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann Didn't Call His Government a 'Driverless Bus'

Bhagwant Mann made the comment while taking a dig at the Congress Party in 2021.

(Source: Altered by The Quint)

A video of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, in which he is talking about the Punjab government, is being shared with a claim that he is referring to his own government calling it a "driverless bus."

The 13-second video is being shared taking a dig at Mann, who was sworn in as the chief minister of Punjab in March.

However, we found out that the video is from 2021 when Mann was talking about the Congress government in the state. The video has been clipped to make the misleading claim.

CLAIM

The posts take a dig at the Party's 'Badlav' (Change) campaign in Punjab, claiming that this was the change they had spoken about, as the Punjab chief minister does not know who's running the state government.

The clip is being shared with a caption that reads, "The change is here."

An archive of the post can be seen here.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

Archives of more posts with the same claim can be seen here and here.

WHAT WE FOUND

We searched for videos of press conferences by Bhagwant Mann and found the entire version of the viral clip on the leader's YouTube channel, which premiered on 17 December 2021, when Congress was in power in the state.

The video posted on 17 December 2021.

(Source: YouTube/Screenshot)

The viral part can be heard from the 13:07 to 13:21 mark.

At around 12:46, a reporter can be heard asking Mann, "Sir, you are talking about the government but who is running it? Is it being run by Navjot Singh Sidhu or Charanjit Singh Channi?"

Bhagwant Mann made the viral comment in response to this question. He said, "Please let me know the answer if you find out. People are not able to understand who is running the government." He then went ahead to compare the then government to a driverless bus.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab is being targeted following the violence that broke out in Patiala on 29 April 2022, as a result of the 'Khalistan Murdabad' rally and the frequent power cuts in the state despite AAP's poll promise of providing free electricity of up to 300 units in the state.

However, the video has been clipped to give an impression that Mann was referring to his government when he was actually talking about the previous Congress government.

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