Bhagwant Singh Mann is a politician and the 17th and current Chief Minister of Punjab. He was formerly an actor and comedian.
Bhagwant Singh Mann is a politician and the 17th and current Chief Minister of Punjab. He was formerly an actor and comedian.
Political career
Mann is a household name in Punjab owing to a career in acting and comedy. He shot to fame in 2008 when he took part in the Great Indian Laughter Challenge on Star Plus. He made his political debut in early 2011 when he joined the People's Party of Punjab—which later merged with the Congress. The following year, he contested elections in the Lehra constituency, but lost. He joined the AAP in March 2014 to contest elections in the Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency and won by a landslide.
In the 2017 Punjab Assembly elections, he contested against Shiromani Akali Dal heavyweight Sukhbir Singh Badal and lost by a modest margin. Ahead of the elections, he had come under fire for a drinking problem.
During the AAP’s campaign for the 2019 general elections, Mann vowed to become a teetotaller and party chief Kejriwal termed the move a “great sacrifice” for the People of Punjab and the country. The criticism over Mann’s drinking problem failed to make a big enough dent as he went on to retain his Lok Sabha seat from Sangrur comfortably.
In January 2022, the AAP chose Mann as the chief ministerial candidate for the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections after public polling. Kejriwal said over 93 per cent of respondents wanted Mann to be the party’s CM candidate.
Personal life and education
Mann was born in a Jat Sikh family in 1973 in Satoj village of Punjab’s Sangrur district. He is a graduate from Shaheed Udham Singh Government College.
