On the second day of his Punjab tour, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday remained non-committal on revealing the party's Chief Ministerial face for the state.
Kejriwal said that he wanted to pitch for the party's Lok Sabha MP Bhagwant Mann as the Chief Minister. However, he refused to do so as Mann said that let the people of Punjab decide on this.
"Bhagwant Mann is very dear to me, he is like a younger brother. I was also saying that we should make him the CM face for Punjab Assembly elections, but he (Mann) said let the people of Punjab decide this," Kejriwal said.
"Many political parties believe in putting their family members as the Chief Minister's face. However, we decided not to follow this," he added.
The AAP convenor added, "First time in India's history, people will decide - who should be their CM candidate!"
The party's convenor also expressed confidence in winning the upcoming Punjab Assembly polls. He said, "Every survey shows AAP is winning Punjab. Thoda saa aur dum, Punjab jeet rahe hain hum! (A little more power, we will win Punjab)."
Mann also addressed the press conference. In his address, Mann said, "We also are Aam Aadmi. Why not declare Chief Minister's candidate only after asking people? If the Chief Minister is elected by the people himself, then he also gets the confidence that this is 'our' man."
Kejriwal on Thursday announced that people can message and call on the number 70748 70748 to send their suggestions on who should be the Chief Ministerial candidate from AAP for the upcoming Punjab Assembly polls by January 17 till 5 pm.
On Prime Minister Narendra Modi's security breach in Punjab, he said, " If AAP comes to power, then we will ensure the safety of Prime Minister as well as the safety of 3 crore people of Punjab".
While Bhagwant Mann said, "the responsibility of the Chief Minister is a big responsibility. CM has to be involved in the sorrow and happiness of the people of the State, so we are issuing a number 70748 70748. You can tell your favourite CM face by calling or messaging on it. I am grateful to the party, even if my duty is to paste the posters, I will do that too, but the faith that CM sahib has placed in me is priceless".
Punjab Assembly polls are scheduled to be held in a single phase on February 14. The results will be announced on March 10.
( With inputs from ANI )
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