Bhagwant Mann hopes to lead the AAP to victory in a multi-cornered fight

The setting was the customary tea hosted by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla at the end of a Parliament session. In attendance were senior leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Birla invited Bhagwant Singh Mann, the lone MP of the Aam Aadmi Party in the lower house, to recite a poem.

The comedian-turned-politician, used to such random requests, recited an old composition of his. It was about elections in a jungle, where predators like the lions and the eagles turned generous souls and appeared with folded hands before goats and mice. The generosity of predators lasted only till the end of the elections. The political satire was not lost on anyone. It made some of the leaders look around uncomfortably, while others burst into laughter.

On another occasion, after an all-party meeting, Modi asked Mann for a cure for sore throat. Modi had ended up with a hoarse voice after a barnstorming and wondered if Mann—who as an entertainer required to keep his throat in fine fettle—knew of an effective home remedy. Mann suggested hot milk mixed with honey. He also asked the prime minister to avoid attacking his political opponents for some time, as it put a strain on the vocal cords. A bit taken aback, Modi could only say that Mann would always be a comic first.

This is Mann for you—funny, irreverent and someone who seamlessly blends his political satirist antecedents with his current vocation as a full-time politician. And now, after he has been named the AAP's chief ministerial face in the assembly elections in Punjab, Mann finds himself at a crucial juncture in his political journey, on the cusp of the big league.

Mann, 48, was already the rage as a comedian in Punjab before he entered politics. Hailing from a zamindar Jat Sikh family in Satoj village of Sangrur, he had discovered his flair for comedy while in college. He enrolled in the Shaheed Udham Singh Government College at Sunam in 1991, taking up BCom, and was extremely popular in college festivals for his stand-up comic acts.

Much against the wishes of his family, he dropped out of college to focus on comedy and came out with his first cassette when he was just 19. He became a household name as he held stage shows, acted in serials and movies and came out with more than 40 cassettes of political satire.

Soon enough, politics beckoned. Mann, who idolises Bhagat Singh, hitched his political entry to the ideals of the legendary freedom fighter. He joined the People's Party of Punjab (PPP) at Bhagat Singh's native place, Khatkar Kalan in March 2011; the PPP was launched by Manpreet Badal, estranged cousin of Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal. Mann always sports a yellow turban as a tribute to Bhagat Singh. His first assembly fight ended in a defeat as he lost to Rajinder Kaur Bhattal of the Congress in Lehra in 2012.

In March 2014, Mann joined the AAP. He won from Sangrur in the Lok Sabha polls that year, defeating Akali Dal's Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa by a record margin, as the newly floated party sprang a surprise by winning four seats in Punjab. He went on to win Sangrur again in 2019, even as the AAP was wiped out in the state and elsewhere; he ended up as the party's only MP in the lower house.

Mann has stuck with the AAP even as several other leaders in Punjab and outside have quit. That has not stopped him from expressing his disagreement with the AAP's national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal when the latter apologised to Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia for alleging that Majithia was involved in the drug trade. Mann had in protest resigned as state unit president, but he returned to the post later on. He stands vindicated as the issue of drug addiction is among the topmost talking points in this election.

Mann's popularity draws from his ability to eschew the ways of VIP politicians and be one among the people. He has been prompt in helping his constituents. Videos of Mann dousing fires in the fields or helping the injured have gone viral. He has come to the aid of those stranded abroad, helping them come back. People regard him as incorruptible and his frugal lifestyle is well publicised. He talks about how he still lives in a rented accommodation in Sangrur and is perhaps the only lawmaker whose assets have declined over successive elections.

While his politics flourished, Mann's private life suffered. He had a divorce in 2015, and his wife and two children—a son and a daughter—now live in the US. He does not even get a chance to talk to them. He has shrugged off questions about them, saying the entire Punjab is his family.

In the run-up to the assembly elections, Mann has had to wait patiently for the AAP to declare his name as the chief ministerial candidate. His supporters did make their restlessness known and tried to pile on pressure on the party leadership to project him as the chief ministerial face. Mann has not had it easy to be considered a serious politician, as his image as a comedian kept coming in the way. While he has been a crowd-puller and a star campaigner for the AAP in Punjab and in other states, he has had to wait to enter the big league. The party leadership was wary of pitting him against the bigwigs of established parties, wondering whether he would be taken seriously enough. Besides, there was the talk about his drinking problem. The party now refers to Mann's public declaration in 2019, when he swore on his mother that he had given up alcohol.

As the party looked high and low for a CM face, Mann knew he would eventually be the chosen one. He likes to tell people that he has a wall clock at home that does not work. He looks at it for inspiration, he says. If a dead clock can tell time correctly twice a day, Mann believes it is possible for him to be at the right place at the right time, if he perseveres. His wait has certainly paid off as he occupies centrestage in this election.