Nation / Fri, 05 Jul 2024 The Indian Express

CM Bhagwant Mann puts in his all — including setting up second home in Jalandhar — ahead of key bypoll

For the past few weeks, they have settled down in a spacious rented home in the city’s Deep Nagar locality. (Express Photo)Apart from the CM, his wife Dr Gurpreet Kaur (in photograph) and his sister Manpreet Kaur are now based in Jalandhar, meeting people daily at their residence and addressing grievances. Apart from the CM, his wife Dr Gurpreet Kaur and his sister Manpreet Kaur are now based in Jalandhar, meeting people daily at their residence and addressing grievances. While recently campaigning for the bypolls, Dr Kaur invited the people of Jalandhar to approach her and other family members directly with any concerns. AdvertisementIn 2022, the AAP won 66 seats in Malwa, 16 out of 25 in Majha, and 10 out of 23 in Doaba.

After its landslide win in Punjab in the 2022 Assembly elections, the Lok Sabha polls this year presented the two-year-old Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government led by Bhagwant Mann a reality check as it faltered and managed to win only three parliamentary constituencies with a 26.2% vote share. Two years earlier, it had won 92 of Punjab’s 113 Assembly seats with a 42.01% vote share.

To bring the party out of this slump and provide it some momentum, Mann has focused his efforts on the Jalandhar West Assembly bypoll scheduled for July 10 and, as part of it, moved base with his family to Jalandhar. For the past few weeks, they have settled down in a spacious rented home in the city’s Deep Nagar locality. Though initially it was speculated that the move was temporary, with the aim of winning the bypoll, AAP insiders said the Mann family has made the shift with a long-term commitment in mind.

On Thursday, Mann confirmed this, saying at a rally, “I was planning for a long time to set up an office in Doaba so that I can meet the people of the Doaba and Majha regions. One good thing that came out of this by-election is that I was finally able to implement the plan and set up an office here.”

Apart from the CM, his wife Dr Gurpreet Kaur (in photograph) and his sister Manpreet Kaur are now based in Jalandhar, meeting people daily at their residence and addressing grievances. (Express Photo) Apart from the CM, his wife Dr Gurpreet Kaur (in photograph) and his sister Manpreet Kaur are now based in Jalandhar, meeting people daily at their residence and addressing grievances. (Express Photo)

Apart from the CM, his wife Dr Gurpreet Kaur (in photograph) and his sister Manpreet Kaur are now based in Jalandhar, meeting people daily at their residence and addressing grievances. (Express Photo)An AAP leader said Mann meets 500 people every morning at his home. Apart from the CM, his wife Dr Gurpreet Kaur and his sister Manpreet Kaur are now based in Jalandhar, meeting people daily at their residence and addressing grievances. While recently campaigning for the bypolls, Dr Kaur invited the people of Jalandhar to approach her and other family members directly with any concerns. “We came to you after shifting to Jalandhar so that we can move among you always, and not just at the time of elections like others,” she said at a public event.

“Now people don’t have to go to Chandigarh to get their work done, now the government is at your doorstep,” the CM said at a rally. “It saves time and effort. I will keep this residence even after the elections so that I can be available to the people of Doaba and Majha three to four days a week.”

AAP leaders said a Mann family member would be present in Jalandhar at least twice a week to address public grievances, and the practice would also be extended to Dhuri in Sangrur, the CM’s hometown alongside regular interactions in Chandigarh.

Despite the sweep in Malwa and a fairly good performance in Majha in 2022, the AAP faced a challenge in Doaba that includes districts such as Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, and Nawanshahr. The region of Majha encompasses Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran, and Pathankot and has 25 Assembly constituencies. Malwa alone has 69 Assembly seats.

In 2022, the AAP won 66 seats in Malwa, 16 out of 25 in Majha, and 10 out of 23 in Doaba. Mann’s move appears to be an attempt to check the AAP’s lacklustre performance in all three regions in the Lok Sabha elections — overall, the party led in only 33 Assembly segments.