Punjab | Mann in a mess
Minister arrested, state chief raided, AAP's Rajya Sabha creme de la creme creamed off. What are the CM's options?
If he brims over with vim and vigour, put it down to his long pre-political career in, well, the performing arts. Given his old specialisation, maybe Bhagwant Mann also has a robust sense of gallows humour. What he’s up against surely calls for it: a kind of ‘double engine’ stalling, or survival anxiety at two layers. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) faces its sternest test yet as a collective political organism. An untimely one, since it needs to renew its mandate in Punjab next February. That naturally leads up to Mann’s second layer of existential panic: his own future in politics.
If he brims over with vim and vigour, put it down to his long pre-political career in, well, the performing arts. Given his old specialisation, maybe Bhagwant Mann also has a robust sense of gallows humour. What he’s up against surely calls for it: a kind of ‘double engine’ stalling, or survival anxiety at two layers. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) faces its sternest test yet as a collective political organism. An untimely one, since it needs to renew its mandate in Punjab next February. That naturally leads up to Mann’s second layer of existential panic: his own future in politics.
A resumption of hostilities by the Centre darkens the skies. On May 10, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Punjab industries minister Sanjeev Arora; ED-Central Bureau of Investigation raids on individuals apparently close to AAP state chief Aman Arora and the arrest of Vigilance Bureau reader Inspector O.P. Rana tightened the pincer. Can the comedian fight off impending tragedy? He was already in full action mode. On May 5, Mann took his MLA troupe to Rashtrapati Bhavan, and asked President Droupadi Murmu to cancel the membership of six Rajya Sabha MPs from Punjab who had gone over to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He called them “Punjab de gaddar” (traitors). But now the situation leaves two options: combat or being rendered hors de combat.
Mann already had cause to be aggrieved. The Raghav Chadha-led defections create an anomaly: the BJP has just two seats in the assembly, but now holds six of its RS slots. These were seats AAP had earned by the sweat of the brow, with Mann doing much of the toil. No wonder they’re calling it ‘Operation Lotus’, a finagling via inducements and pressure.
AAP commands 95 MLAs in a House of 117, and won a trust vote on May 1. Why, then, was a premonition of regime change in the air? Well, on May 4, the BJP had won Bengal. AAP says the results emboldened the BJP: ‘Punjab next’ was the word. The raids suggest it was no vague dread.
CONFRONTATION TIME
Mann’s response has been dual in nature. One, confrontation. That got a chance for arrant display after Punjab reported two low-intensity blasts on the night of May 6—one outside a local BSF HQ, one near an Amritsar army cantonment. No injuries were reported, except to the tone of discourse. For, Mann thought it fit to accuse saffron of a false flag, saying it was trying to “scare people into voting BJP”.
The BJP hit back, with state chief Sunil Jakhar saying Mann’s remarks showed he was unfit to be CM. Tarun Chugh, BJP general secretary and Amritsar native, asked him to either produce proof or resign. Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav, who visited both sites, said the signs were of Pakistan-backed elements. The BJP, then, asked how the CM could blame the Opposition when his own police chief was pointing to a foreign hand.
The second harvested faith. On May 6, amidst that incriminatory exchange, Mann began a Shukrana (thanksgiving) Yatra, starting at Anandpur Sahib and ending four days later at Fatehgarh Sahib. He was expressing ‘gratitude’ for being able to enact the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Act, 2026, which prescribes harsher punishment, including life imprisonment and fines of up to Rs 50 lakh, for be-adbi—or sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib.
This was turf on which the Akali Dal had slipped. Tending to that raw wound, Mann was making a play for the panthic space: the heart of Punjab politics. It ran into resistance right in that aortic channel. Giani Kuldip Singh Gargaj, Akal Takht jathedar, summoned Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan, saying the clerical had been bypassed. Sikh institutions and scholars, meeting in Amritsar, also deemed it a temporal trespass that should be rejected.
Going full panthic is a new necessity. For one, the personnel who moved parties on April 24 were no passengers. Besides the telegenic Chadha and key party architect Sandeep Pathak, there were honchos like Lovely Professional University founder Ashok Mittal and Trident Group bossman Rajinder Gupta—no aam aadmis, they spoke of AAP’s deep connect with the urban business class. That’s a vacuum to fill, for which Mann may need many pilgrimages. With the law breathing down his neck, each step now feels like a leap of faith.
