AMRITSAR : The Aam Aadmi Party stormed the Punjab Assembly Elections 2022, and have designated comedian-turned-politician Bhagwant Singh Mann as the new Chief Minister of the state. Mann is set to precede Indian National Congress' Charanjit Singh Channi, the first Dalit chief minister of Punjab.
Punjab's state Congress Chief, Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday said that people have taken a “very good decision" and “laid a new foundation." He made the remark welcoming the change, ushered by the people and emphasising that their verdict should be “humbly accepted".
AAP romped home winning 92 seats of the 117-member assembly, decimating the Congress and defeating the state Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi as well as him.
“This politics was for the change. I congratulate the people of Punjab who have taken a very good decision, changed the 'traditional' system and laid a new foundation," Sidhu told reporters in Amritsar.
Asked if he was making the remark as the state’s Congress president, Sidhu said people's voice is the voice of God and their verdict should be humbly accepted.
"I am saying they (people) have done 'badlav' (change). Its (mandate) should be accepted humbly because people's voice is the voice of God," he said.
On Congress' decision to name Channi as the party’s chief ministerial candidate ahead of the Punjab polls, he said, "Whether people accepted that choice or not, I will not go into that. It was the high command's decision (to name Channi as the CM face)."
He added that he, however, extended his cooperation to Channi right till the end. To a question, he said a big mandate was given to the Congress too five years back but "we were unable to take advantage of it" and blamed former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on a host of issues.
“Now the AAP has been given a chance for the next five years. We will analyse its performance as a watchdog when the time comes," he said.
Sidhu, who lost his Amritsar East seat in the polls to AAP candidate, said victory and defeat are part of the game but nothing can deter him from working for Punjab's welfare.
"My aim is Punjab's welfare, I have been firm on this. I always stood with Punjab and will remain so. When someone has a higher aim and is in love with Punjab, he doesn't care about win or loss," he said. "I see God in people of Punjab and in their welfare I see my own welfare," he said.
