Kejriwal invites people to choose Punjab CM face

Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal has left it to the people of Punjab to choose the Chief Minister for the state. Arvind Kejriwal has categorically ruled himself out as the CM face for Punjab.

Kejriwal on Thursday announced that he was leaving the choice of the party’s CM face to the people of Punjab. Announcing the launch of a number (7074870748), Kejriwal said that people of Punjab should call, message, or WhatsApp and chip in with their suggestions regarding the future CM candidate.

“We want to leave the choice to the people of Punjab, who can give us their choice by 17 January. Following this, the candidate who is chosen by the public will be the CM face,” he said.

Though Kejriwal said he had himself asked AAP MP and Punjab convenor Bhagwant Mann to be the chief ministerial candidate, the latter wanted the public to choose the CM face. “I told Bhagwant that I should clear his name, but he gave me this idea that we should not choose the CM face in a closed-door meeting,” he said, adding, “my personal choice is not important, public choice is supreme.”

Mann, while endorsing Kejriwal’s statement, said, “I am a loyal party worker and I will perform any duty entrusted to me by the party. I will even paste posters or wave the party symbol (jhadu) if the party so wants. For me it is more important that the CM trusts me.”

Around 2.8 lakh people sent their preferences within four hours after Kejriwal issued the number.

However, BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa took a jibe at Kejriwal and called the latter’s move a political stunt.

Kejriwal also claimed that his party would get 57 to 60 seats in the 117-member Punjab Assembly. During a conference in Mohali, the AAP supremo said, “All surveys present Aam Aadmi Party to be the single largest party, with some estimating 57 seats, some 58 and some 60. It feels like we’ve almost reached the finish line and just need a slight push across it now.” Voting in Punjab will be done in a single phase on 14 February. The final counting of votes will take place on 10 March.

WITH INPUTS FROM TANMAYA DAS