Ahead of the assembly elections in Punjab, the political parties have intensified personal attacks against their competitors.
In the latest attack, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi referred to Aam Aadmi Party’s Chief Ministerial candidate Bhagwant Mann as a “drunkard and illiterate person”.
CM Channi claimed that Mann, who is AAP’s chief minister candidate, has taken three years to pass his 12th Board exams and asked how the people can give command of Punjab to him.
“Bhagwant Mann is a drunkard and illiterate person. He passed 12th class in three years. How can we give command of Punjab to such a person?” Channi asked in an election rally in Bathinda. Punjab Chief Minister Channi was campaigning for Manpreet Singh Badal, the candidate from the Bathinda Urban seat.
Last week, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi had claimed that Bhagwant Mann had failed on his promise of giving up alcohol.
The elections in Punjab will be held on February 20 to elect 117 members of the state Assembly. The counting of votes will be done on March 10.
Bhagwant Mann and his ‘drunk’ incidents:
Bhagwant Mann, the AAP’s chief ministerial candidate, is known in the political circle as “Pegwant Mann” for his alleged addiction to drinking alcohol. The Lok Sabha MP from Sangrur has come under the scanner several times in the past for his indecent behaviour.
From funerals to Parliament sessions, comic-turned-politician Bhagwant Mann has displayed his theatrics in an intoxicated condition.
It all started when the fellow parliamentarians accused Bhagwant Mann of arriving at Parliament after consuming alcohol. In 2015, former AAP leader Yogendra Yadav had alleged that Mann attended Parliament sessions drunk.
“I discovered it first in July 2014 when AAP had a meeting of all its Lok Sabha candidates. Mann was sitting next to me and was smelling of alcohol. I mentioned it to Arvind Kejriwal, and he nodded. Around this time, I heard rumours that Mann was going to the Lok Sabha sessions drunk,” said Yadav.
In October 2015, at the bhog ceremony of the Faridkot firing victims, Mann was asked to leave the stage after Jagtar Singh, former granthi of Dabar Sahib, Amritsar, had found him drunk. The incident caused AAP national embarrassment.
A few months later, the then Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had accused Mann of being an alcohol addict.
A week later, AAP leader Harinder Singh Khalsa had written to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan stating that it is “torturous” to sit next to Mann, who “reeks of liquor”.
In August 2016, three more MPs wrote to a nine-member committee set up by the then Speaker Mahajan on the same issue.
A month before, Mann had live-streamed his trip to Parliament and posted it on Facebook, triggering outrage from other members of the House. Mann was accused of breaching security by shooting a video around Parliament. It was alleged that Mann was drunk on that day and had leaked the Parliament security apparatus. Following the incident, the AAP MP was asked by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan not to attend the sittings of the House until a decision was taken.
In November 2016, Mann had also allegedly turned up at the funeral of Manmeet Alisher in an inebriated condition. The family had asked Mann to leave the premises since he misbehaved with them and the journalists present at the venue.
Again in 2018, Bhagwant Mann had gone to address in an election rally at Gol Diggi in Bhatinda. When it was Mann’s turn to speak, Mann could not even stand. He was seen blowing flying kisses to the people before collapsing on the dais. He managed to get up somehow and, after blowing some more flying kisses, he started speaking.
