CM Mann takes swipe at Akali Dal, links third place to dinosaurs

Health insurance of Rs 10 lakh will start from January next year.

Chandigarh (The Uttam Hindu): Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal addressed a press conference on Thursday, claiming a major victory for the Aam Aadmi Party in rural Punjab. They said AAP had once again won the Zila Parishad and Block Samiti elections, securing nearly 70 percent of the seats.

They stated that holding district and block-level elections four years after coming to power had validated the party’s work on the ground. They pointed out that the Congress won several zones by margins of just two or three votes, which, according to them, proved that the elections were conducted fairly. The Chief Minister said that if the ruling party had wanted, it could have influenced such narrow margins, but no such steps were taken and the process remained transparent.

Bhagwant Mann said that 58,000 youths from villages had been given government jobs and announced that from January, every family in Punjab would receive health insurance cover of Rs 10 lakh. Responding to allegations of intimidation made by former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Mann questioned how many zones Channi had won in his own area.

The leaders further shared data stating that out of 580 seats decided by margins of less than 100 votes, AAP won 261 while the opposition won 319. They cited examples from Sangrur, Muktsar Sahib and Jalandhar districts where Congress candidates won by margins as narrow as three to five votes, reiterating that there was no rigging anywhere.

Launching a sharp attack on the Shiromani Akali Dal, Chief Minister Mann said that a party claiming to be the biggest force in rural Punjab had finished third. He remarked that if finishing third meant dinosaurs were returning, then the Akali Dal should stay with the dinosaurs. He added that Congress finished second, while the BJP came fifth, trailing even behind independent candidates.