Delhi CM Kejriwal asks people to decide Punjab CM’s name

TIL Desk/National/Chandigarh/ Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said his party will be asking the general public as to who should be the party’s chief ministerial face in the Punjab Assembly polls. He said his own preference for the post was state unit president Bhagwant Mann. Kejriwal, however, ruled himself out in the race.

 The Delhi chief minister in the presence of AAP’s Punjab unit president and MP Mann and party senior leader Raghav Chadha launched a mobile number on which people can give their feedback by 5 pm till January 17 by recording their voice, sending SMS or WhatsApp as to who among the party leaders they want to be declared as the chief ministerial candidate.

 “No, Arvind Kejriwal is not in this race, let me clarify I am not in it,” Kejriwal said. He had in June 2021 announced that the party’s chief ministerial face for the 2022 Punjab Assembly polls will be from the Sikh community, and said the entire Punjab will be proud of him. Kejriwal said though he wanted Mann be declared as CM face, but the latter insisted that the people of Punjab should make this decision.

 “Bhagwant Mann is my younger brother, he is AAP’s tall leader. I said Bhagwant Mann should be made, but he said people should be asked first. He said the practice of deciding the name of the CM candidate behind closed doors should be stopped,” Kejriwal told reporters. Mann said when he was told that his name will be declared as chief ministerial face then the Sangrur MP told Kejriwal that the “people should be asked whom they wish to see CM amongst the party leaders”.