Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday asked MLAs in Punjab to work with honesty and warned them that they will be replaced if they do not meet their targets.
“Mann Sahib [Bhagwant Mann] will give you targets,” Kejriwal said, according to The Indian Express. “If you do not meet the targets, then people will say change the minister. Then you will feel bad, but we will have no option but to replace you.”
Kejriwal made the remarks while addressing the newly-elected MLAs of the Aam Aadmi Party through a video conference.
The Aam Aadmi Party won an overwhelming majority in Punjab, bagging 92 of the 117 Assembly constituencies in the recently held elections.
On March 16, Bhagwant Mann, who was announced as the party’s chief ministerial candidate in January, took oath as the 18th chief minister of Punjab in Nawanshahr district’s Khatkar Kalan, the ancestral village of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.
After his victory, Mann had said that change in Punjab will be visible in a month and that the party will tackle unemployment on priority.
On March 19, Mann also announced the name of his Cabinet ministers. Against 17 vacancies in the Cabinet – besides the chief minister – the Aam Aadmi Party inducted only ten ministers.
In Sunday’s address, Kejriwal lauded Mann for his announcement of 25,000 government jobs in the state and withdrawal of security cover from former ministers and MLAs.
“These are remarkable announcements,” Kejriwal said. “People’s hope is now turning into confidence. May God bless you with power and strength to help the people of Punjab.”
The Delhi chief minister also urged the MLAs to work as a team. “If we leave behind our personal ambitions, then Punjab will progress,” he said, according to PTI.
He also advised MLAs to not take pride in their victory in the Assembly elections.
“You have not defeated the stalwarts,” he added. “People have defeated them. If people can defeat others, they can defeat you also. You work so hard as an MLA in your area that your reputation travels.”
Also read:
- Decoding the Punjab verdict in 34 charts: AAP’s victory and the debacle of state’s political class
- What explains the rise of AAP in Punjab?
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