Decisions Taken With People, Not In AC Rooms: CM Bhagwant Mann As AAP Completes 1 Year In Punjab

CM Bhagwant Mann addressed the media as the AAP government completed a year in Punjab and highlighted the works of the government.

Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann addressed media as the AAP government completed a year of government in the state

As the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government completed a year in Punjab, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann addressed the media and said the state has seen development in the sectors of education, health, and agriculture among others. He said, "In our government, decisions are taken with people and not in AC rooms or just with the Chief Minister. "in the first time in history, a third party came to power with such a massive mandate," he said.

"Just like Delhi is working in terms of schools and hospitals, we will do the same and we have more speed. We have opened over 1 lakh mohalla clinics in Punjab. We are opening the School of Eminence here. In agriculture we are taking Punjab towards crop diversification, ground-water had depleted, but we making efforts to solve that issue. Farmers are happy and we are discussing with them to form new policies. This is what people's government is, we don't make decisions sitting at the chief minister's house or in AC rooms, in our government, we discuss with people before making any decision," he said.

Talking on the issue of corruption, he said, "We have taken action on corruption, even our own ministers are in jail when they tried to indulge in corruption. We are a party formed out of the anti-corruption movement. We have zero tolerance for corruption."

Party chief Arvind Kejriwal said the party has fulfilled many promised made to the people of Punjab and will fulfill many in the coming days.

'आप' सरकार का 1 साल...पंजाबियों के साथ... https://t.co/nTBTUYMY6g

— Bhagwant Mann (@BhagwantMann) March 16, 2023

The Arvind Kejriwal-led party bagged 92 seats in the 117-member state assembly as it turned out to be a defining moment in the border state in 2022.

Chief Minister Mann in May sacked health minister Dr Vijay Singla from his Cabinet over corruption charges in barely two months after the AAP came to power, riding on the agenda of corruption-free governance.

The victory of AAP in the assembly polls forced leaders like Parkash Singh Badal, Amarinder Singh, Sukhbir Badal, Charanjit Singh Channi and Navjot Singh Sidhu to bite the dust.

Former CM Amarinder Singh, whose party Punjab Lok Congress failed to make any mark in the polls, later joined the BJP.

However, the ruling AAP got a shocker in June when it lost the Sangrur Lok Sabha bypoll to SAD (Amritsar) candidate and Khalistan proponent Simranjit Singh Mann.

Punjab's health minister Chetan Singh Jouramajra came under fire after he was seen "forcing" the Vice Chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS)to lie on a dirty mattress at a hospital. Raj Bahadur tendered his resignation as VC after he felt "humiliated".

In September, the AAP accused the BJP of offering Rs 20-25 crore each to its seven to 10 MLAs in Punjab under its 'Operation Lotus' in a bid to topple the Bhagwant Mann government.