“I have taken a solemn vow to say ‘no’ to booze for good in the presence of my mother. From today onwards, I shall devote my precious time 24X7 for the cause of the people of Punjab”, senior leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Sangrur Member of Parliament (MP) said here while addressing a mammoth rally at Barnala here on Sunday. The announcement evoked instant cheery reaction from the ecstatic gathering amid chants of ‘Inqlab zindabad’ ranting the air.The announcement came in the august presence of party’s senior leadership, including National convener of the Aam Aadmi (AAP) and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi deputy chief minister Munish Sisodia, former union minister Harmohan Dhawan.An emotional Mann said in a choked voice “The SAD-BJP alliance and the ruling Congress Party are all in league with each other to malign my image by unleashing vilification propaganda against portraying me as a born drunkard. They have denigrated to the level of showing my old video grabs to defame me for the heck of it.”Mann admitted that being an artiste it was customary to consume hard drinks in moderation, but I dare them to answer my million dollar question if they did not consume liquor at all.
He said that when my mother heard my detractors passing nasty comment against me, she crumbled to the hilt and advised me “You have sacrificed your home and family for the cause of the people, do make another by saying no to booze for good. This served as a precious nugget of wisdom for me and decided to part ways with booze binge for my people and my Punjab”, Mann said in a highly surcharged voice.Mounting a scathing attack on the Badals and Captain Amarinder Singh, he said “Sukhbir Badal is the one who compromised on the interest of the people of Punjab. He described and dubbed him as the biggest criminal on the land”. He further accused Sukhbir Singh Badal, Captain Amarinder Singh and senior leaders of the BJP of colluding and hatching conspiracies against me and my party. They decided to put in the best of efforts to help Prakash Singh Badal win from Lambhi and Sukhbir Singh Badal from Jalalabad. With this in mind, Captain was pitched in from Lambhi and Ravneet Singh Bittu from Jalabad, apparently to defeat me, Mann said.Mann said “I have never played politics for petty political or personal gains. Were I a tad funky of my defeat from Jalalabad, I would have opted for a way safer seat as any other professional politician would have done. But, my mission was to oust Badals from the corridor of power.” Mann said.