Hoping to hone in on his multi-hyphenated popularity, Delhi chief minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal has declared Bhagwant Mann as the party’s chief ministerial candidate for the Punjab assembly elections.
The 48-year-old two-time Sangrur MP has been a member of the AAP since 2014. From 2012 to 2014, he was a member of Manpreet Badal’s People’s Party of Punjab.
Born in Satoj village of Sangrur in 1973, Mann started his career as a comedian. He gained popularity for his satires on the TV show ‘Jugnu Mast Mast’ earning him the moniker ‘Jugnu’. He and fellow comedian Kapil Sharma both competed in a popular television comedy contest ‘The Great Indian Laughter Challenge’. His debut movie was Kachahri and till 2018 he has been part of 12 movies. Mann is a two-time gold medalist from Punjab University, Patiala for Shaheed Udham Singh Government College, Sunam.
Mann also runs an NGO ‘Lok Lehar Foundation that helps kids with physical deformities affected by the polluted groundwater in the border areas of Punjab.
The actor-comedian-turned politician leader has also had his fair share of controversies in politics after he was targeted as an alcoholic, though he had claimed that he was just a social drinker. Given the damage the label was inflicting on his image, in 2019, Mann vowed not to drink anymore and claimed to have become a teetotaler.
His importance in Punjab politics increased when he defeated veteran leader of Punjab Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, who was then a part of Shiromani Akali Dal.
After recording an impressive performance in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation elections winning 14 out of 35 wards in the city, the AAP has high hopes for Mann in the Assembly polls.
The Assembly elections in Punjab are slated to begin on February 20 and the counting of votes will take place on March 10.
