Sangrur: A lot has changed in Punjab’s Sangrur constituency this Lok Sabha election.
In the course of the last five years, MP Bhagwant Singh Mann has gone from being a face of a heady anti-corruption Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to being the candidate of a party that is in self-destruct mode. The crowd-puller comedian-turned-politician has also turned somewhat circumspect.
His opponent, Congress candidate Kewal Dhillon, has been on the offensive, particularly targeting Mann’s humour-laced speeches with the barb: “Chutkule nahi sunai kam karke dikhaye (We haven’t been joking but have been focusing on working).”
It seems to have touched a raw nerve.
Even though he continues to be AAP’s biggest crowd-puller, Mann’s speeches have had a different flavour this season. Gone are the jokes about Congress and BJP leaders and their schemes and his election campaign, characterised by satire in 2014, has a far more serious tenor to it this time around.
“What comedy have I been doing?” Mann asks at Janal village in Sangrur. “Is talking about farmer suicides in Parliament a joke? Is highlighting the plight of cancer patients in my speeches in Parliament a laughing matter to the Congress?”
This time, the speeches are also laced with proof of his achievements. “I pride myself for my most significant achievement,” he says. “I ensured that Parliament marks the martyrdom day of the four sahibzaade (sons) of Guru Gobind Singh. Is that a joke too?”
One aspect of his campaigning that appears to have some approval with his audience is his decision to play recorded snippets of his speeches in Parliament.
“The recordings are very interesting,” says Bridh Singh of Dhandoli Khurd village. “It’s like listening to a story. It even reveals which party tried to shout Mann down or objected to his ideas. We heard the Speaker Sumitra Mahajan agreeing with Mann over the issue of commemorating the martyrdom of chaar sahibzaade right here in the village gathering.”
Also read: As another AAP MLA defects to Congress in Punjab, party set to lose main opposition tag
A party in crisis
Mann, who is the AAP chief in Punjab, is among the four party candidates who won the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Punjab was the only state that voted in AAP MPs and the party also managed to garner 24.4 per cent of the vote share.
But it has been all downhill for the party since then. AAP was a hot favourite in the 2017 assembly elections but it lost the plot on the eve of the polls.
The party still managed to emerge as the principal opposition with 20 seats in the 117-member House. It, however, has been disintegrating in Punjab.
Last year, the party split into two, with the rebel faction led by former leader of opposition in the Punjab assembly Sukhpal Khaira forming the Punjab Ekta Party. Earlier this month, two more MLAs quit to join the Congress.
Mann, however, disagrees that the party is on the decline in the state.
“This is not true. People say the broom has come apart. I am telling them that the new broom is made of silver,” he says, as he takes out a tiny broom crafted in silver to show the public. “Those who left never believed in AAP’s ideology. They were hankering after power. Now they are out and the party is much better without them.”
But is there not a difference between the heady 2014 campaign and the sober 2019 one?
“Yes, you are right. There is a difference,” he says. “Now people are supporting me even more. There are people who approach me and say that they did not vote for me last time but now they will because they have seen the kind of work that I have done in Parliament.”
Also read: How AAP lost the plot in Punjab, and may struggle to retain its 4 Lok Sabha seats
Still the crowd-puller
One aspect of Mann’s campaign that hasn’t changed is his popularity. His entry into villages is a sight that almost everyone stops to watch.
Mann relies on his official SUV for his ‘mobile campaigning’ and as he enters a village, his cavalcade is escorted by youths on bikes.
“Last time the youth were the backbone of my campaigning and this time I also have the blessings of the old and women,” he tells the crowd, pointing towards a host of village women huddled in a corner braving the summer heat waiting impatiently for Mann to start his jokes.
Not one for rallies and events, Mann has microphones in his hands and a full-fledged battery-operated sound system in his vehicle. The roof of the SUV with a small mattress acts as a mini stage. As Mann reaches a village and the waiting crowd rushes to greet him, he stands atop the car roof and begins his speech.
Given the limits on expenditure laid down by the Election Commission, Mann is truly being an aam aadmi candidate, saving every penny.
“This is the most economical way of campaigning. No one has to spend on erecting stages or a sound system,” he says. “We have invented an all-in-one mobile campaigning unit.”
An as the expectant crowd waits on for a joke or two, the inimitable comedian does not disappoint. “When you push the button next to the symbol of the broom you will hear a long beep,” he says.
“Remember that it is not a beep, it is the sound of the cries of the Congress and the SAD candidates. Make sure that on 19 May you make them cry, and cry a lot.”