Bhagwant Mann, Aam Aadmi Party’s CM face in Punjab, in his victory speech in Dhuri on Thursday said that the government will first address the issue of unemployment. The AAP appears to be set for a clean sweep in Punjab having taken lead in 91 of the 117 assembly seats after initial rounds of counting of votes on Thursday.

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Mann won from Dhuri by over 50,000 votes. The 48-year-old said that he will not take oath in the Raj Bhawan. 

“I will take oath as Punjab CM in Bhagat Singh’s ancestral village Khatkarkalan, not in Raj Bhawan,” Mann said. 

He further added that no government office will carry picture of the Chief Minister, instead there will be pictures of Bhagat Singh and BR Ambedkar. 

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The party’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal congratulated the people of the state “for this revolution”.

“We will ensure that youth does not have to go to abroad… Within a month, you will observe changes,” Mann said in his victory speech.

Punjab’s incumbent Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi has lost both the seats he contested from the state’s assembly elections to candidates from the Aam Aadmi Party. 

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“Bade Badal Sahib has lost, Sukhbir (Badal) has lost from Jalalabad, Capt has lost from Patiala, Sidhu & Majithia are also losing, Channi has lost on both the seats,” Mann further added. 

Trends showed the ruling Congress, SAD-BSP combine and the BJP-PLC-SAD (Sanyukt) alliance appeared to be decimated.

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Various exit polls predicted that the Aam Aadmi Party will form the next government in Punjab.

Kejriwal congratulated the people of Punjab.

“Many congratulations to the people of Punjab for this revolution,” Kejriwal, the Delhi chief minister, said in a tweet in Hindi.

In the tweet, he also posted a picture of him standing with the AAP’s chief ministerial candidate and MP Bhagwant Mann, with both leaders flashing victory sign.

State Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu said his party humbly accepts the mandate of the people of the state.

He also congratulated the AAP.

“The voice of the people is the voice of God. Humbly accept the mandate of the people of Punjab. Congratulations to Aap!!!” he said in a tweet.

AAP senior leader Raghav Chadha said the party will emerge as the national and natural replacement of the Congress in the coming days.

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“In the coming days AAP will become a national force…the party will emerge as the national and natural replacement of Congress,” Chadha said while addressing party workers at a rented accommodation of the party’s chief ministerial candidate Bhagwant Mann in Sangrur.

Chadha said that people of Punjab have chosen “Bhagwant Mann and Kejriwal model of governance”.