Bhagwant Mann takes oath as Punjab Chief Minister

At an unconventional venue in Punjab’s Khatkar Kalan - the ancestral village of freedom fighter Saheed Bhagat Singh - AAP MLA Bhagwant Mann took oath as the chief minister of Punjab pledging to usher Punjab into reforms. “We are already late. Our journey begins today itself, our long journey to end unemployment, lead reforms in agriculture, improve hospitals and transform education”, he said at the hugely attended gathering of supporters sporting yellow turbans and dupattas.

Mann talked about how people from different countries visit Delhi to see the Mohalla Clinics and government schools. “We'll also turn Punjab like that,” he maintained. After taking oath as CM, Bhagwant Mann quoted Bhagat Singh: “Ishq karna sabka paidaishi haq hai, kyun na is baar watan ki sarzamin ko mehboob bana liya jaye” (to love is the birth right of all, why not make your motherland your beloved).

Mann stressed upon qualitative changes in the field of education and measures that will stop the flight of youth abroad. The CM asked his party workers to do honest work besides being polite in their conduct with people. He lauded Arvind Kejriwal for a long struggle to bring the AAP to where it is today. From PM Modi to Tamil Nadu CM, greetings poured in for Mann.

The AAP won 92 seats in Punjab decimating all other political outfits in a bitterly contested multi-polar contest. With AAP winning the elections, Mann announced certain avant-garde changes which included not having pictures of CM in government offices and instead replacing them with pictures of Bhagat Singh and Dr BR Ambedkar. Mann also announced withdrawal of security to nearly 120 politicians, including former ministers and MLAs.

Swearing in ceremonies are usually at the Raj Bhawan or bigger venues, but Mann chose the ancestral village of Saheed Bhagat Singh as a tribute to the freedom fighter. Kejriwal and his cabinet attended the ceremony. No former CM was invited. The opposition is training guns at Mann for spending crores of rupees for the ceremony that lasted a few hours.

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