Amid wave of 'basanti', Mann takes oath in Bhagat Singh's ancestral village
Darpan News Desk IANS, 16 Mar, 2022 11:19 AM
Khatkar Kalan (Punjab), March 16 (IANS) Amid a wave of 'basanti' and chants of 'Rang de Basanti', a revolutionary song, AAP leader and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who donned his traditional 'basanti' turban, took oath of office on Wednesday in this village of legendary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, who laid down his life for the country's Independence, amidst a mass gathering of some 400,000 audience.
Mann, a former comedian, 48, replacing Congress' Charanjit Channi as the Chief Minister, became Punjab's youngest CM in nearly four decades.
Governor Banwarilal Purohit administered the oath of office and secrecy to Mann. After the oath-taking, which was delayed by an hour, Mann in his address said he along with all the residents of the state also took oath as Chief Ministers. "You all will be the Chief Ministers," he said.
Mann will assume office in the evening, while the newly elected legislators will be administered oath during the one-day Vidhan Sabha session to be held in the state capital on Thursday.
However, Mann's cabinet will take oath on Saturday at the Raj Bhavan in Chandigarh.
Harpal Cheema, Aman Arora, Baljinder Kaur, Meet Hayer, Sarvjeet Kaur Manuke and Budh Ram, all second-time legislators, are likely on the list of Mann's cabinet.
At the oath-taking venue, three podiums were set up on the stage. While the Governor and Mann were on the central podium, the second was occupied by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his cabinet, and the third by AAP's 91 legislators.
"The golden ray of sun has brought a new dawn on Wednesday," said Mann ahead of taking oath.
In a tweet, Mann said, "The golden ray of sun has brought a new dawn today. To realize the dreams of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and Baba Saheb, the whole of Punjab will take oath today at Khatkar Kalan."
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is all set to herald a new 'Inquilab' or revolutionary spirit, this is what the party that came to power in Punjab by sweeping the assembly polls with a three-fourth majority is indicating by holding the oath-taking ceremony in Khatkar Kalan.
The BJP has also made efforts to invoke the legendry freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.
In 2015, donning 'basanti' turban, Narendra Modi became the second prime minister to visit Hussainiwala in Punjab's Ferozepur district.
Hussainiwala is the place where the last rites of the three freedom fighters were held after they were hanged in Lahore on March 23, 1931.
Leaving behind his celebrated tag of a top Punjabi rap singer with fans across the globe, singer-turned-actor-politician Sidhu Moosewala, who was booked for allegedly promoting gun culture and violence, takes pride in crediting his mother Charan Kaur, sarpanch of his native Moosa village, for making his electoral debut as a Congress candidate from Mansa for the February 20 Assembly polls.
With his assurance a power struggle is on between party state President Navjot Sidhu and Charanjit Singh Channi, the first Dalit Chief Minister of a state that is home to 32 per cent Scheduled Caste population, the country's largest, to be the chief ministerial candidate.
On checking their purses, polythenes containing off-white substance weighing 400 gms was recovered from the possession of Shivani, 424 gms was recovered from Kiran and polythene containing white substance weighing 439 gms was found with Preeti, said the police.
As a part of the tracker, a snap poll simply asked the respondents across all 117 seats in Punjab, if they feel that PLC-BJP-SADs alliance candidate is in "serious contest" in their own area. The results show that every third voter in Punjab believes that Captain is still very much in serious contest along with his new alliance partners.
According to officials at Force's Headquarters here, on Wednesday's evening, the troops deployed on the BoP observed some suspicious movement ahead of Border fencing from the Pakistan side in the area of KS Wala under Ferozepur sector. The intruder crossed IB and entered into Indian Territory.
The company, which announced a $10 billion Google for India Digitisation Fund last year, has already invested $4.5 billion for a 7.73 per cent stake in the top telecom network Reliance Jio Platforms, along with recently investing up to $1 billion in Bharti Airtel.
