Will perform better this time, turncoats will repent: Bhagwant Mann

Sangrur

AAP’s Punjab chief and Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann on Saturday rejected the claims that there was no AAP wave this time and said the party would perform better than the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

He said those who left the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) would repent their decision on May 23 when the election results would be out.

In less than a week, the AAP in Punjab suffered another major jolt today as its sitting MLA from Ropar, Amarjit Singh Sandoa, joined the Congress in the presence of Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh.

Earlier AAP MLA from Mansa, Nazar Singh Manshahia had joined the Congress on April 29.

About his chances of re-election from Sangrur, Mann said he was confident of winning by a huge margin this time.

Addressing people at a village in Lehra, he reminded them of his efforts in securing the return of Punjabi youths stuck in foreign countries and issues raised by him in Parliament.

“Every day, parents approached me for securing the return of their children stuck abroad. I helped them in securing their return,” said Mann, drawing applause from the voters.

Mann asked them to press the EVM button against the symbol of “jhadoo” to keep the Congress and the SAD-BJP away from power.

He also highlighted the “unparalleled” work carried out by the AAP government in Delhi, especially in education and health sectors, and slammed both SAD-BJP alliance and the Congress for “ruining” Punjab.

“In Punjab, you have seen divisive politics in the past five years. They are not bothered about employment, farm crisis and other issues,” he alleged.

At another public meeting in Malerkotla, the AAP leader flayed the state government’s ‘Ghar Ghar Rozgar’ scheme, saying it had completely failed to provide employment to the youth in Punjab.

The comedian-turned-politician also blamed the local Congress MLAs for the dilapidated condition of roads.

Taking a dig at the BJP, Mann said the saffron party was forced to field two outsiders—Hardeep Puri and Sunny Deol—from Amritsar and Gurdaspur , respectively.

“Sunny Deol had campaigned for the SAD candidate from Sangrur in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and he lost the elections,” he said.