From
a
comedian
to
the
chief
minister-designate
of
Punjab,
Bhagwant
Mann
has
come
a
long
way
in
a
political
career
of
just
over
a
decade.
Before
his
legislative
assembly
debut
this
time,
he
has
been
elected
twice
as
a
Member
of
Parliament
from
Sangrur.
And
weeks
before
the
Punjab
election,
the
Aam
Aadmi
Party
declared
him
its
CM
face
after
a
phone-in
poll,
called
"Janta
Chunegi
Apna
CM"
(people
will
pick
their
own
CM).
The
AAP
state
unit
president
was
the
first
choice
of
over
90
per
cent
of
the
21
lakh
callers.
In
Punjab,
the
48-year-old
has
been
the
most
recognizable
face
of
Arvind
Kejriwal's
Aam
Aadmi
Party,
which
has
swept
the
assembly
polls.
At
his
press
conference
when
he
was
picked
as
the
AAP
man
for
the
top
post,
the
ex-comic
and
the
party's
lone
MP
in
the
Lok
Sabha
admitted
that
earlier
people
laughed
when
they
saw
his
face.
"Now,
it
is
completely
reverse.
When
I
go
to
any
public
meeting
or
any
meeting,
people
now
cry
when
they
look
at
my
face
while
narrating
their
problems
and
say
save
us,"
he
had
said,
harping
on
what
the
AAP
felt
has
gone
wrong
with
the
state.
This
time
he
fought
the
polls
from
Dhuri,
an
assembly
segment
in
his
Sangrur
parliamentary
constituency,
winning
by
a
margin
of
over
58,000.
The
crowd-puller
had
campaigned
across
the
state
for
his
party.
Born
in
Sangrur's
Satoj
village
in
October
1973,
Mann
enrolled
for
a
B
Com
degree
from
Shaheed
Udham
Singh
Government
College
in
Sunam
in
the
same
district.
He
didn't
complete
the
course,
but
college
gave
him
an
opportunity
to
take
part
in
several
youth
festivals.
He
went
on
bring
out
comedy
videos
and
music
albums,
and
perform
in
Punjabi
movies,
including
'22g
Tusi
Ghaint
Ho' and
'Police
in
Pollywood'.
Appearing
The
Great
Indian
Laughter
Challenge
was
a
high
point
in
his
career
as
an
entertainer.
Navjot
Singh
Sidhu,
who
now
heads
the
Congress
in
Punjab,
also
happened
to
have
made
several
appearances
on
the
popular
TV
show.
His
political
career
began
in
2011
when
he
joined
the
Manpreet
Singh
Badal-led
People's
Party
of
Punjab,
an
off
shoot
of
the
Shiromani
Akali
Dal.
The
PPP
was
to
merge
later
with
the
Congress.
Next
year,
Mann
fought
from
the
Lehra
assembly
constituency
in
Sangrur
as
a
PPP
candidate
but
lost
to
senior
Congress
leader
Rajinder
Kaur
Bhattal.
In
2014,
Mann
joined
the
AAP
and
contested
against
Akali
heavyweight
Sukhdev
Singh
Dhindsa
for
the
Sangrur
Lok
Sabha
seat.
He
won
by
over
two
lakh
votes
and
the
AAP
itself
went
on
to
win
four
Lok
Sabha
seats
in
Punjab.
Mann
unsuccessfully
contested
the
2017
assembly
polls
against
SAD's
Sukhbir
Singh
Badal
for
the
Jalalabad
seat.
But
Arvind
Kejriwal's
party
won
20
seats
in
the
117-member
Punjab
Assembly,
ending
up
as
the
state's
main
opposition
party.
Mann
was
made
its
state
unit
president.
He
resigned
from
the
post
in
2018
after
Kejriwal
apologised
to
Akali
leader
Bikram
Singh
Majithia
in
a
defamation
case
but
was
back
in
the
AAP-fold
soon.
Mann
won
the
Sangrur
seat
again
in
the
2019
Lok
Sabha
polls
with
a
margin
over
one
lakh
votes.
During
his
political
career,
Mann
has
been
hounded
by
accusations
that
he
has
a
"drinking
problem".
In
2016,
the
then
AAP
MP
Harinder
Singh
Khalsa
complained
against
him
to
the
Lok
Sabha
Speaker,
seeking
a
change
in
his
seat.
He
alleged
that
Mann,
who
sat
next
to
him,
reeked
of
liquor.
At
a
2019
rally
in
Barnala,
in
the
presence
of
Kejriwal
and
his
mother,
Mann
vowed
to
give
up
liquor.
Mann
had
then
accused
his
political
rivals'
of
defaming
him
by
portraying
him
as
a
"born
drunkard".
As
he
eyed
the
CM's
post,
his
rivals
referred
to
the
"problem",
arguing
what
was
point
of
having
a
CM
who
would
not
be
accessible
after
a
certain
point
in
the
day.
"I
have
countered
this.
The
public
has
also
given
its
response," he
had
said
a
while
back,
referring
to
his
re-election
as
an
MP.
The
people
appear
to
have
spoken
once
again.