Punjab election: Singer Anmol Gagan Mann gets AAP ticket from Kharar

Decision has not gone down well with local leaders who were in the race for AAP ticket from Kharar for the upcoming Punjab election

Blurb: 

Anmol Gagan Mann, 31, will fight the Punjab election on AAP ticket from Kharar.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has declared Punjabi singer Anmol Gagan Mann, 31, as its candidate from Kharar constituency in Mohali district for the Punjab Vidhan Sabha elections scheduled early next year.

She has replaced suspended AAP MLA Kanwar Sandhu, who won the elections in 2017 by a margin of nearly 2,000 votes defeating former Congress cabinet minister Jagmohan Singh Kang.

However, the decision has not gone down well with local AAP leaders, who have shown their resentment over the ticket distribution of the ticket, calling Mann a “parachute candidate”.

One such leader is Narinder Singh Shergill, who contested the Lok Sabha elections from Sri Anandpur Sahib constituency and was a contender for the Kharar ticket. “I have been working in Kharar ever since the AAP was formed, but they ignored me,” he said, while adding that he would decide his future course of action after a discussion with his supporters.

Jagdev Singh Maloya, district president of the AAP’s farmer wing in Mohali, said: “It is not right to field a candidate from outside Kharar. There were so many local leaders, who were strong contenders for the ticket, but the party completely ignored them.”

Mann is a Punjabi singer and belongs to Mansa district in Punjab. She has done her graduation from MCM DAV College in Sector 36, Chandigarh. In July last year, she joined the AAP and was made the Kharar in-charge. She had actively participated in the farmers’ protest in Mohali.

Mann said that people are fed up with both the Shiromani Akali Dal and Congress and have made up their minds to bring the AAP into power. “I am hopeful of winning the elections with a thumping majority. Some leaders are unhappy; it happens; we will pacify them,” she said.

Mann said though she is from Mansa, for the past 16 years, she has been staying in Kharar and will keep serving the people of this town.

In November 2018, the AAP had suspended journalist-turned-politician and Kharar MLA Kanwar Sandhu along with Sukhpal Singh Khaira for “indulging in anti-party activities” and “continuously attacking the central and state leadership”. Though Khaira later resigned from the party, Sandhu is still in the AAP but has not been active in his constituency.

Last week, in a message on social media, Sandhu made it clear that he would not be contesting the elections, but will remain active in public life and will continue serving people in other ways. On the AAP, he said: “The party should introspect on its conduct.” He also made it clear that he will not be joining any other party.

During the Kharar municipal elections in February this year, AAP won only one seat of the 27. The Congress got 10, followed by eight each to SAD and Independents.