Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal, on Thursday said that the chief ministerial face of AAP will be the next chief minister of Punjab.

Addressing a press conference in poll-bound Punjab ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections 2022, Kejriwal said that though he floated the idea of projecting Bhagwant Mann as the chief ministerial face of AAP, the latter said that the people of Punjab should decide the CM of their state.

“Bhagwant Mann is very dear to me, he is like a younger brother. I was also saying that we should make him the CM face for Punjab Assembly elections, but he said let the people of Punjab decide this,” Kejriwal said. Adding that the people of Punjab should decide the CM-face of AAP in Punjab, Kejriwal said that the voters can register their choice of Punjab CM face for AAP on a toll-free number.

AAP’s Punjab CM face likely to be announced next week

He also released the number – 7074870748 – to seek the Punjab population’s choice of AAP’s Punjab CM face. The number will be open till 5 pm on January 17, Kejriwal said. Earlier this week, Kejriwal had said that the Aam Aadmi Party’s CM-face for Punjab would be announced next week.

Ahead of Punjab Assembly elections 2022, Kejriwal unveiled AAP’s Punjab Model and promised, among others, justice in sacrilege cases, jobs to youth, corruption-free governance. He also slammed the Congress party and the Badals for running the government in partnership.

“In 1966, Punjab became a separate state. Since then till today, for 25 years Congress ruled the state while for 19 years the Badal family ruled. Both ruled the state in a partnership of sorts. Whether the Badal party came to power or the Congress, they ran their governments in partnership. When their government used to come to power, they never used to take action against each other,” he said.