Aam Aadmi Party’s CM-elect Bhagwant Mann called a meeting of the party legislature on Friday. After this, Mann was supposed to meet the Governor to claim to form the government.
Bhagwant Mann will take the oath as the next Chief Minister of Punjab on March 16.
Mann, the party’s chief ministerial candidate, had earlier said that the oath-taking ceremony will not be held at Raj Bhawan but at Khatkarkalan in Nawanshahr district, the ancestral village of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh. Mann has invited Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for the oath-taking ceremony.
Mann, on Friday reached New Delhi and met Aam Aadmi Party’s national convenor Arvind Kejriwal. Bhagwant Mann met the Delhi CM at his residence in presence of Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia. He touched Kejriwal’s feet and sought his blessings.
Mann and Kejriwal will hold a roadshow in Amritsar on March 13 over the party’s victory in the assembly polls.
On the other hand, the People of Punjab are keen to know what would be the first thing that Bhagwant Mann does after joining as Chief Minister of Punjab. A retired army officer Captain Gursewak of Mohali told The Daily Guardian, “People of Punjab have shown their trust in AAP, people didn’t vote for the candidates but party name. AAP has created a tsunami. Now, this is for AAP to pay back to Punjab while creating the same tsunami of development and employment.”
Aam Aadmi Party swept Punjab polls with a thumping majority. The party won 92 seats out of 117.
Meanwhile, The Punjab Cabinet on Friday gave the approval to recommend Governor Banwarilal Purohit for dissolution of the 15th Punjab Vidhan Sabha, a day after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) registered a landslide victory in the state Assembly elections.
A decision to this effect was taken during a virtual Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi at his official residence in the morning hours. A spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office mentioned the governor’s authority to dissolve the state legislature.”Punjab governor is authorised to dissolve the State Legislature as per sub-clause (b) of clause (2) of Article 174 of the Constitution of India. This move being a Constitutional necessity would now eventually pave a way for the formation of 16th Punjab Vidhan Sabha” stated the official.
At the end of the meeting, the Chief Minister thanked all his cabinet colleagues, officers, employees and people for overall development and maintaining peace and tranquillity in the state during the tenure of the present government.
The Chief Minister also congratulated the incoming government and hoped that the new government would earnestly implement the promises made to the people.
“He also hopes that the decisions taken by his government in the public interest such as reduction of electricity rates, slashing VAT on oil besides decreasing rates of sand and gravel etc. would be continued by the next government” read the statement. In the Punjab election, the ruling Congress managed to secure 18 seats while Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ended up with two seats. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) bagged three seats while Bahujan Samaj Party managed to win a solitary seat.
With inputs from ANI