Bhagwant Mann: The comedian-turned-AAP MP from Punjab

New Delhi: Bhagwant Mann is a well known stand-up comedian who has been elected to 16th Lok Sabha on Aam Aadmi Party ticket from Sangrur constituency in Punjab.Bhagwant Mann was born on 17 October 1972 in a village named Satauj that is located in Sangrur district of Punjab.Bhagwant Mann had this knack for entertaining people through his witty comments since his childhood days. His Punjabi skits caught the imagination of people immediately.Bhagwant Mann used to participate in comedy shows and competitions during his college days. In fact, he was awarded two gold medals by Punjab University for his college - Shaheed Udham Singh Government College, Sunam.Bhagwant Mann has done many comedy albums. His comedy album "Kulfi Garma Garm" was a huge success.Bhagwant Mann is famous for taking swipe on politicians and his witty remarks have proved to be very popular with common masses.Bhagwant has not left any section untouched in course of his comedies. He has made everybody from politicians, businessmen, policemen and sportsmen butt of his jokes.Bhagwant Mann's partnership with Jagtar Jaggi proved to be very successful in 1990s and they delivered many hits together. They also created a show ‘Jugnu Kehnda Hai' for the Punjabi channel Alpha ETC Punjabi.Bhagwant and Jaggi split after 10 years of partnership. The reason behind this break-up was the unhappiness of Jaggi who felt he was not getting the credit he deserved.Bhagwant Mann joined hands with Rana Ranbir. The pair clicked and they worked together for Alpha ETC Punjabi.Bhagwant and Jaggi patched up in 2006 and toured Canada and England for their stage play ‘No Life With Wife'.Bhagwant Mann became a household name after he participated in The Great Indian Laughter Challenge on Star Plus. This comedy show made him popular not only in India but across the world.One of world's most popular Punjabi comedians, Bhagwant Mann also acted in TV shows like Jugnu Hazir Hai and featured in the movie Sukhmani alongside Gurdas Maan.Bhagwant Mann may have started his career as a comedian and created a mark for himself in that stream but anybody who gets the chance to discuss politics with him will vouch that he has deft understanding of intricacies of politics.Before joining Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bhagwant Mann was a member of People's Party of Punjab (PPP) headed by Manpreet Badal.In march 2014, Mann resigned from PPP to join AAP on the eve of general elections.After resigning from People's Party of Punjab (PPP), Bhagwant Mann quoted a couplet of Hindi poet Dushyant Kumar, saying "Sirf hungama khada karna mera maqsad nahin, meri koshish hai ki yeh surat badalni chahiye; mere seene mein nahin to tere seene mein sahi, ho kahin bhi aag lekin aag jalni chahiye.Bhagwant Mann is very proud of his party AAP's performance in 2014 Lok Sabha elections in the state of Punjab.AAP failed to open its account in Delhi but surprised everybody by wining 4 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab.Bhagwant Mann is one of those four AAP MPs elected from Punjab.Commenting on his victory from Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency, Bhagwant Mann told a newspaper, “It is the victory of the people. They would wait for me in villages till 12.45 am or even later than that. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal claims that I entertained them with my jokes. But I only highlighted the fact that the incumbent government has failed to fulfill its promises. I want people to question their leaders.”Bhagwant Mann has analyzed the Lok Saha results comprehensively and that's why he is very confident that AAP has a great future in Delhi despite the party not wining single Lok Sabha seat in Delhi.“We did not do badly in Delhi where our vote share went up from 29 per cent in the Assembly polls to 33 per cent in the Lok Sabha elections. We could not get any seats because the Congress fared very poorly across the country and particularly in Delhi. But the future belongs to the BJP and AAP. The Congress is going to be in coma for at least 10-15 years,” says Bhagwant Mann.Bhagwant Mann agrees that AAP failed to emerge as the third alternative at the national level primarily because the party could not explain to the people why Kejriwal had to resign within 49 days of assuming power in Delhi.Bhagwant Mann considers himself to be anti-establishment to the hilt.When asked by a newspaper to explain his metamorphosis from a comedian to a politician, Bhagwant Mann replied, “I am a satirist, I have always been anti-establishment. Unable to take in the excesses of the establishment, I was thinking of how to help people. There were many issues that needed attention, but the solutions provided were like spraying pesticide on leaves when it was actually the roots that were infested and needed attention.”And Mann has got his priorities right. He is very clear that he will try his best to solve the problems that the people of Sangrur are facing. When asked to outline his action plan as an MP, Mann told the newspaper, “I will be my constituency's voice in the Lok Sabha. From this year, the MP fund has been enhanced from Rs 5 crore to Rs 7 crore. I promise that every single penny will be utilised. My predecessor returned Rs 2.66 crore unutilised. My priorities will be education and health. There are 519 schools in the state (Punjab) that do not have toilets for girls. The state government can donate Rs 1 crore to Sanawar school (Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal's alma mater), but cannot spend money on constructing toilets in schools?”When asked whether he would be following Navjot Singh Sidhu who continued to do his shows even after being elected as an MP from Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency in 2009 elections, Bhagwant Mann's reply was a firm ‘NO'.“When you have been elected as one of 543 MPs, you need to give your best to the job. I do not agree with the way Navjot Singh Sidhu goes around laughing, dancing with cheerleaders, though I consider comedy a serious business, said Mann.Just after his electoral victory, he was asked to explain his strategy in parliament and he responded very aggressively.Mann in Lok Sabha“The electorate defeated senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley. I have decided I will not let him speak before me in the House. I will tell him that I was elected by 11 lakh and he was defeated. I will ask him to get elected first. Look at the irony — he lost to a fauji (Capt Amarinder Singh) and was made the Defence Minister, said Mann.Bhagwant Mann has started a new career in his life. The way he speaks about his commitment to the public cause it does appear that he is sincere about his role as a public representative. We can only hope that he would come true to the great expectations that his Sangrur electorates have from him.