KHATKAR KALAN (NAWANSHAHR): Bhagwant Mann, who took oath as the Punjab chief minister at a mammoth ceremony on Wednesday, in a short speech cautioned his party leaders and workers against displaying arrogance or ego and said that all of them should remain humble and modest as their party’s government belonged to all.
Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit administered the oath of office and secrecy to Mann, who spoke Punjabi throughout. The whole event was over in barely 15-17 minutes and the swearing-in ceremony barely took five minutes to complete even with two renditions of the national anthem at the beginning and end of the constitutional ceremony, which was conducted by chief secretary Anirudh Tewari.
The ceremony, held just behind the Bhagat Singh Memorial, was attended by Aam Aadmi Party members and workers from across Punjab. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his cabinet colleagues, all wearing yellow turbans, also attended the ceremony. The podium was divided into three stages – the central one for Mann’s swearing-in ceremony, and it was flanked by newly-elected AAP MLAs on one side and the Delhi CM and his cabinet on the other.
The chief minister, paid floral tributes at the Bhagat Singh memorial before his swearing-in ceremony, addressed the gathering of AAP supporters moments after taking the oath, saying that he was overwhelmed by the massive mandate given to his party by the people of Punjab. “But at the same time we should be far more responsible now and there should not be any display of ego and no challenges should be thrown at others be- cause ‘pride hath a fall’,” he said. “We will start slowly. People should feel that a mature government is in power. ”
The ceremony, whose theme was decided by Mann as basanti (yellow), was the biggest swearing-in event in the state till now, even as it was the fifth ceremony organised outside Raj Bhavan. SAD leader Parkash Singh Badal and his government held ceremonies outside the Raj Bhavan four times earlier. Highlighting this difference, Mann Said: “I have a special place for Bhagat Singh in my heart. For the first time, any chief minister is taking oath from the land of martyrs as the earlier swearing-in ceremonies were held in stadiums or Raj Bhavan. ”
Promising that his government would work hard, the 48-year-old CM, who is an MLA from Dhuri, said not even a single day would be wasted as “we are already too late to cherish the aspirations of people in bringing transformation in Punjab. ”
Mann said that the AAP government would provide the best education and healthcare infrastructure by setting up state-of-the-art schools and hospitals, which would be greatly appreciated by one of all.
"It is really pathetic the youth from the progressive state like Punjab is migrating to foreign shores in search of green pastures. Our government will strive hard to create employment besides eradicating the menace of corruption and other malpractices in order to provide clean, transparent, and good governance," Mann said and also sought support from all, saying that issues in Punjab were much complicated and these would require the support of all to be solved.
He also made it a point to eulogize Kejriwal for building AAP and even sitting on a hunger strike with a sole mission to bring sweeping reforms in the Indian polity.
"We have really got the freedom now as the previous governments during past 70 years blatantly ignored the vision and dreams of our great martyrs like Bhagat Singh. The day of February 20, 2022, would be ever remembered in the annals of Punjab's history as the people exercised their franchise rightly and fearlessly," he said and wrapped with the speech with a couplet: "Hukumat who karte hain, jinka dilon pe raj hota hai, yun kehne ko to murge ke sar par bhi taj hota hai."
