By declaring Bhagwant Mann as its chief ministerial candidate for the Assembly elections in Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has arguably exerted the only option it had to go forward.
That Arvind Kejriwal’s party also explored other options for the CM face is now a thing of the past.
Though the process to choose its CM face by way of tele-voting had the novelty factor, the AAP has managed a definite political mileage for the February 20 polls. All other parties have so far shied away from naming their CM candidate, and AAP’s first strike gives the party a leg up over other political outfits and a posturing that arguably exudes confidence among its cadre.
Punjab’s outgoing CM Channi, a Dalit, remains an accidental CM, who was cheery-picked by the Congress high command keeping in view the Dalit population in this border state. Punjab, which has the highest percentage of Dalits at 33 per cent, for decades has had a Jat Sikh as CM.
Mann, a Jat Sikh, turned out to be the party's best bet, as the AAP factored in the prospects of consolidating the sizable Jat Sikh votes in Punjab. The AAP in 2017 Assembly elections managed a sizable 30 per cent of the Jat Sikh votes, more than the mainstream Congress. A large chunk of Jat Sikh vote in 2017 went into the AAP kitty essentially from the SAD-BJP combine. In the 2012 Assembly polls, the SAD combine managed 52 per cent of Jat Sikh votes which was reduced to 37 per cent in 2017 when AAP jumped into the poll fray.
The AAP has tried to steer clear of any controversy in case it would have been anyone other than Mann. With Mann now comfortably placed in the saddle, the AAP has managed to hasten the momentum in the contest to win Punjab. The AAP has effective leaders in Punjab, but with limited appeal. Mann enjoys mass appeal, and has prolific oratory skills that connect well with the audiences. His loyalty factor towards the AAP and Kejriwal also goes to his advantage. The party had been hit by massive internal wrangling and desertions by its prominent leaders.
But Mann stayed along amid all this chaos and worked at the grassroots level to augment the party’s footprints. Tuesday's announcement to name a son of the soil as CM face also puts an end to talks of the ‘outsider’ Kejriwal eyeing to be the Punjab CM. Kejriwal on Tuesday said Mann got 93 per cent of the votes for the choice of CM candidate. But he was quick to share Navjot Singh Sidhu’s score in the votes- a little over 3 per cent. AAP’s-tele voting exercise conveyed to the electorate who could be a better choice. Comic actor turned MP, Bhagwant Mann has come of age from the time he was seen as a butt of jokes for his naïve ways and alcoholic tendencies.
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