The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday announced that the party’s Punjab president and Lok Sabha member Bhagwant Mann wpuld be its Chief Ministerial candidate for the Assembly elections.
AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal officially announced Mr. Mann’s name at an event in Mohali.
Mr. Kejriwal said the party has announced the candidate’s name based on people’s opinion.
“We urged people of Punjab to choose the face of the Chief Minister, and for this purpose, the party had released a cell phone number, on which people could share their choice for the Chief Minister candidate. We received over 21 lakh responses over the phone on the assigned number through SMS, calls, and WhatsApp and Mr. Bhagwant Mann’s name was the first choice among them,” he said.
“Most parties in our country often decide on Chief Minister from their immediate family member or their relative. But today, the Aam Aadmi Party is stopping this tradition of heritage and nepotism, and has decided to give this right to the people of Punjab. We have declared the CM face according to the mandate of the people,” he said.
The 117 Assembly constituencies in Punjab would face election on February 20.