Aam Aadmi Party is rebranding Bhagwant Mann’s personal struggle with alcohol as a glorious exercise in public good.
On Sunday, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal declared at a rally in Punjab’s Barnala that his party colleague and MP Sangrur, Bhagwant Mann is going to make a huge ‘sacrifice’ for the greater good of his state—and everyone sat up and took notice.
What followed is, as they say, stranger than fiction.
The great sacrifice is that Mann has decided to give up alcohol. Such selfless and awe-inspiring sacrifice, according to Kejriwal, has only been undertaken for the greater good of the downtrodden and toiling masses. A sacrifice for which they must be suitably grateful.
Also read: ‘Pegwant’ Mann swears off liquor, but notorious AAP MP has had too many ‘drunk’ incidents
Bhagwant to ‘Pegwant’
That alcohol has been a persistent issue with Mann is well known, but to equate an exercise in self-improvement to protect Mann’s own image and credibility—and re-brand it as a glorious exercise in public good and a gift of grand munificence—is suspect.
The rebranding is being viewed with dismay and derision by many, especially on social media.
Two patriotic heroes from Punjab.
Bhagat Singh, who gave his life for the country.
Bhagwant Mann, who has given up his daaru for the people.
I am so impressed!!!
— Mayank Gandhi (@mayankgandhi04) January 21, 2019
शराब न पीना कुर्बानी है?????? किस तरह से? https://t.co/UAgLRvioI9
— richa anirudh (@richaanirudh) January 21, 2019
The comedian-turned-politician had first joined the current Congress finance minister of Punjab, Manpreet Badal in 2011 to form People’s Party of Punjab (PPP), a rebel outfit created by Badal who had broken away from the Akali fold.
Despite his career as a brilliant comedian—which he used to the hilt in the 2012 Punjab assembly election—PPP barely made a dent in the state’s politics.
And while Manpreet joined the Congress, Mann joined the AAP in early 2014. He was among the four winning leaders, all from Punjab, that got AAP a place in Parliament in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Mann won the polls with a huge margin of more than two lakh votes from Sangrur.
He was the rookie party’s biggest crowd puller but his reputation as an alcoholic grew with his popularity.
It is a given in democracy that politicians are prone to rhetoric, but even the most brazen of politicians generally weave their rhetoric around public good, imaginary or otherwise.
And now AAP has decided to turn a bad habit into a virtue, all this while patronising the public.
Also read: AAP wanted to be party with a difference, but it’s talking about cows, caste like any other
“I have taken a solemn vow to say ‘no’ to booze for good in the presence of my mother. From today onwards, I shall devote my precious time 24X7 for the cause of the people of Punjab,” Mann said at the Barnala rally.
“The SAD-BJP alliance and the ruling Congress party are all in cahoots to malign my image by portraying me as a born drunkard. They have stooped to the level of showing my old video grabs to defame me for the heck of it,” he added.
The videos Mann is unhappy about are undated visuals showing his inability to stand straight before he steps out of his car, and yet another showing him collapsing on his own rally stage in 2017.
In June 2015, at one of his first important press conferences to highlight the plight of Punjabis stranded in Iraq, Mann went haywire. A video of his strange behaviour following the presser went viral.
He could be seen breaking down on being asked questions and rushing to hide in the boot of his car, begging to be left alone.
Also read: Remember Arvind Kejriwal? Here’s how AAP lost the national plot
‘Pegwant’ to Bhagwant
Mann and his wife parted ways in 2015 and—just as Kejriwal called Mann’s resolution to give up alcohol ‘sacrifice’—the former, at the time, wrote on Facebook that he was ‘leaving his wife for Punjab’.
Social media lashed out at him.
In and out of controversies throughout his stint as an MP, Mann is said to have tried to leave alcohol several times and failed. At the Barnala rally, he justified his habit. “Being an artist it was customary to consume hard drinks in moderation, but I dare them (opponents) to answer my million dollar question: Do they not consume liquor at all?”
Even his mother found a mention, as he proudly proclaimed, “When my mother heard my detractors passing nasty comments against me, she crumbled to the hilt and advised me: You have sacrificed your home and family for the cause of the people, do make another by saying no to booze for good. This served as a precious nugget of wisdom for me and I decided to part ways with booze binge for my people and my Punjab.”
And that is how a party with a difference, headed by a leader with a difference, offered its prospective voters a sacrifice with a difference.