Tarn Taran: The politics of Punjab is currently drenched in a different emotional wave in Tarn Taran. Before the upcoming by-election on November 11, the things that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann shared while standing among the public seemed completely different from traditional politics. During the huge road show in support of Aam Aadmi Party candidate Harmeet Singh Sandhu, Mann said from the roof of the jeep that ‘I am not the Chief Minister, I am the Minister of Sadness’, I have come to take part in your sorrows and joys, not just to sit on the chair, hearing which thousands of people got emotional and raised slogans of ‘Inquilab’ and the atmosphere was completely filled with political enthusiasm.
Mann shared his past and his experience to the soil of Tarn Taran. He told how he also came from villages, used to go to school on bicycle and used to travel on the roof of the bus till college. Through this personal experience, he said that his government understands very seriously the crop loss of farmers, the hard work of laborers and the everyday problems of common households.
Mann clarified that his resolve to be the ‘Dukhmantri’ is not limited to mere rhetoric. He reminded that his government carried out rapid relief work in this year’s devastating floods. Every victim was given a compensation of Rs 20,000 per acre within 45 days and relief was delivered to every household by Diwali.
In just three years, his government introduced the direct relief model, under which 90 percent of the households in Punjab got up to 300 units of free electricity. Youth got 56,000 government jobs through a transparent recruitment process, schools were improved and common man clinics were opened in every village.
Mann said that farmers are getting direct benefits of MSP guarantee and loan waiver, due to which prosperity is returning to the fields. He stressed that the old parties gave only corruption, drugs and unemployment to Punjab, while his government presented a model of honesty and development.
The Chief Minister told the people of Tarn Taran that the enthusiasm and passion of the villages of Halka Tarn Taran is itself testifying to the victory of the Aam Aadmi Party. This victory of ours will help in the better future of your children. Mann described the November 11 by-election as not just an election but a decision of trust and appealed to the public to repose faith in the leader who considers himself not the owner of the chair but a partner of the people.
