Punjab elections: People will choose our CM candidate, says Kejriwal
Kejriwal said people can message and call on the number 70748 70748 to send their suggestions till 5 pm on January 17.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday sought the suggestions of Punjab voters on who should be the party’s chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming assembly elections.
Kejriwal said people can message and call on the number 70748 70748 to send their suggestions till 5 pm on January 17.
“This is for the first time in independent India that a party is asking people who should be its chief ministerial face,” Kejriwal told reporters here in the presence of state unit president and Sangrur MP) Bhagwant Mann and party’s Punjab in-charge Raghav Chadha.
Kejriwal said though Mann is his choice for the top post, the latter has insisted that the people of the state should take the decision and it should not be imposed on them.
“Bhagwant Mann is my younger brother. He is a tall leader of the AAP. I had said he should be made the chief minister, but he said people should be asked first. He said the practice of deciding the name of the chief ministerial candidate in a closed-door meeting should be stopped,” he said.
“My personal choice is not important. The name chosen by the people of Punjab will be announced as the party’s chief ministerial candidate,” he added.
The Delhi chief minister’s announcement came a day after he said that the party’s chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming polls would be revealed next week. In June last year, he had announced that the party’s chief ministerial candidate in Punjab will be from the Sikh community.
Kejriwal, however, ruled himself out of the race. “No, Arvind Kejriwal is not in this. Let me clarify, I am not in it,” he said.
Mann told reporters: “I am a loyal soldier of the party. I will perform any duty given to me. If I am asked to paste posters on walls or wave the party symbol at some chowk, I will happily do that. For me, Punjab is important.... Kejriwal has reposed a lot of trust in me.”
Meanwhile, Kejriwal claimed that poll surveys suggested that the AAP would form the next government with 57-60 seats in the 117-member assembly.
In 2017, the party had contested without a chief ministerial face and this was seen by many party leaders as a primary reason for not winning the polls. The Congress won the polls that year, securing 77 seats of the 117 total constituencies. AAP had emerged runner-up, winning 20 seats.
Election in Punjab is scheduled to be held in a single-phase on February 14 while counting of votes will take place on March 10.
