Perhaps, for the first time, a chief ministerial candidate is facing the problem of his drinking habits in the past. We are talking about Bhagwant Mann (48), who is the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP’s) presumptive CM for Punjab. He is now busy defending himself about his past drinking habits, instead of talking about how he would like to govern Punjab if his party comes to power.
In 2019, in the presence of his mother, “Jugnu”, as the comedian-cum singer-turned-politician Mann is popularly known, had taken a vow at an AAP event that “I would never drink again”.
Mann was declared “chosen” as AAP’s CM face by the party head and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal after a “public tele vote”. AAP claimed that Mann got 93% votes and state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu came second with more than 3 per cent of the 21 lakh votes. Mann told The Sunday Guardian that “I can now honestly say I am from the public quota.”
Mann himself spilled the beans when he claimed that Kejriwal had told him earlier that “I am the party’s only choice for the Chief Minister. But I told him let’s ask for public feedback through a telephone survey for their choice.” The opposition parties have ridiculed AAP and Kejriwal for an alleged “fraudulent survey”. A Congress leader said, “Ask Delhi people as they would remember Kejriwal’s one-day tele voting survey dramas in the initial days of him coming to power there.”
Meanwhile, Mann is busy tackling opponents’ digs at his past drinking problem. “Punjab has elected me as an MP twice. They have nothing else to say on me. There is no corruption, no Enforcement Directorate raids, no Income Tax raids, I have a clean image…I still live in a rented house,” Mann said, adding that he has been the best performing Punjab MP in the Lok Sabha.
Mann was often criticised over his drinking. He was accused of coming to public events after a binge. Some BJP leaders allege that on many occasions Mann during his Parliament speeches gave the impression that he was “in high spirits”.
Family fare in Goa polls
Strangely, the BJP has taken the risk of contradicting itself by promoting “family” in Goa. It has fielded two party leaders, whose wives too have been named candidates.The BJP has fielded Babush Monserrate from Panjim and his wife Jennifer Monserrate from the Taleigao. Goa minister Vishwajit Rane and his wife Divya Vishwajit are also on the list of BJP candidates. Interestingly, Divya Vishwajit has been pitted against her father-in-law Pratapsinh Rane, the Congress candidate from Poriem constituency.
In this family drama, Utpal Parrikar, the son of late Chief Minister and Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar, on Friday resigned from the party for the denial of election ticket from his father’s seat. He would now contest the election as independent.
The BJP’s veteran and former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis says that Utpal had been offered two other options. The party reportedly gave Utpal “multiple options” and assured him of a spot in the organisation set-up even if he loses and that he was also shared a five-year horizon for a bigger, better launch in 2027. But Utpal rejected all these offers. He already has an offer from AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal.“Goans feel very sad that BJP has adopted use-and-throw policy even with the Parrikar family. I have always respected Manohar Parrikarji. Utpalji is welcome to join and fight elections on AAP ticket,” Kejriwal tweeted. Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut has declared that they would not field a candidate against Utpal if he contests as an independent. Raut has also asked all the opposition parties not to field a candidate against Utpal.
Manohar Parrikar, a three-time Goa Chief Minister and the BJP’s top leader in the seaside state, died in office in 2019. He held the Panaji constituency for 25 years. Babush Monserrate, who was his lifelong rival, is now the BJP’s choice for his constituency over his son. In the by-election after Parrikar’s death, Babush Monserrate won as a Congress candidate but later switched to the BJP.
An engineering graduate, Utpal had been prepping for a Panaji contest. He had been touring the constituency over the past few months and positioning himself as the likely BJP candidate.