UNB, New Delhi :
Popular comedian Bhagwant Mann, the leader of anti-corruption Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab, was sworn in as the chief minister of the northern Indian state on Wednesday.
Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit administered the oath of office to Mann at a grand event in Khatkar Kalan, freedom fighter Bhagat Singh’s ancestral village in the state, in the presence of AAP chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Earlier, in a recorded message, the 48-year-old urged all the people of Punjab to attend his swearing-in ceremony.
After the oath-taking ceremony, Mann reiterated his poll promises of eradicating corruption from Punjab and improving education and health facilities in the state. “Will be chief minister for all,” he said.
Under Mann, the anti-corruption party swept to power in Punjab, decimating the country’s main opposition Congress that had been in power in the state since 2017.
Born in Satoj village of Punjab in 1973, Mann began his career as a comedian. In 2011, he joined politics — first with the Punjab People’s Party before joining AAP in 2014. That year, he became a lawmaker.
Former civil servant-turned-politician Kejriwal shot to fame by winning the Ramon Magsaysay award for Emergent Leadership, for social work and initiatives to fight corruption in 2006.
He later formed AAP and went on to become the chief minister of Delhi. Kejriwal is currently the three-time chief minister of the Indian capital.
